Student's Journey
by Dale Idle Wells
Summary: Tobias is an orphan with no adopted family and no last name, but with terrifying precision in the martial arts. Dubbed by his bullies as Echo, the young man is recruited by Snake Eyes and sent through their qualifying regiment, testing every fiber in him.
1. The Beginnings of an Echo

This is going to be the only authors not for the whole story, at least until the end of the story. I will be periodically (monthly, to be exact) updating this story because I am very close to having the whole thing finished. I actually wrote the whole thing before I posted it, which is really weird for me….I think there might be something wrong with me.

So yeah, this story was something that I came up with after watching the film, G.I. Joe. I know a lot of people had some issue against it, but you know what? I really enjoyed it as a simple action movie, ya know? Check your brain at the door and go be amused. Plus, it has Ray Park as Snake Eyes…which is pure awesomeness. And so after watching the film and enduring a two hour drive back with someone sleeping on me, I came up with this story and decided it had to be written.

It is in my normal stream of martial arts action and character developing drama with hints of romance. So for those familiar with my previous work, this should be fun for you lot. I wanted to really develop a slightly more naive main character and do an honest to god orgin story without heaps of pre-story events, so we can really see someone adjust to a new life. I also was a little annoyed at how easy it was for the two new soldiers of G.I. Joe to just in and that we never saw true recruiting scene for anyone, so I guessed things could have been a little...flexible if a certain someone was to find a student that he felt would be an appropriate apprentice. If not, then the story should be good for the fight scenes then. I hope you all enjoy it and do let me know what you think.

Aside from that….without any further ado or bullshit, please enjoy!

* * *

**The Beginnings of an Echo **

Stale air. It hangs and clings to life, even though is has long lost what use it could pass on to the living world. It creates a thick atmosphere around you, restricting your breathing and filling empty space that could have been filled fresh and cool air. Even with the fan spinning around above the sole student in the room, it did nothing to ease the burning heat that surrounded the young man known as Tobias, but more commonly called Echo.

Echo closed his eyes as he felt drops of sweat roll down his brow and drip over his eye lids. His training gi was soaked through, the heat in the room cling to him like a foul stench. The rice mats under his feet were soaked through in some spots and droplets of his sweat scattered across the private training room of the dojo. His arms were turned in and hands rested at his waist, his thumbs just touching his black belt. He always trained with the same heavy gi, to ensure a thorough workout, so the stress marks only his neck and chest were highlighted even more so by the bright red marks.

His hair was a slight auburn color, darker by a slight shade from being saturated with his sweat and clumped together in a series of messy spikes. Opened his eyes, his long, almost effeminate, lashes rising up to reveal his dark green eyes, a single bead of sweat clinging to a clump of lashes. The young man's cheekbones were slightly over pronounced and his nose was hooked over slightly, his brow showing early creases and dents from frowning and concentration.

He was an orphan, raised in a Catholic orphanage, St. Helena's, and with nothing to call his own, not even a name. He was just found in a bundle of hospital blankets in a growing puddle at the doorstep, not even moaning as the rain cascaded over his small frail body. Had Father Francis not found him when he did, it was likely that the young babe would have died from pneumonia. And so, with little options left to the church and no clues for the authorities, he grew up in the church.

The young man bowed slowly and carefully at the waist, his eyes always remaining forward and his body always moving smoothly. As he raised his back, his right foot began to slide back to just being off of ninety degrees from his other foot. His hands also moved with the rest of his body, his right arm pulling back to his ribs and his left hand extend out just short of his full arm extension. Echo gave a long exhale as he let his vision un-focus slightly, his muscles gently coiling in preparation.

He inhaled sharply and began his training again.

With his breath, the young man stepped forward with his right foot and shot his right hand out in crossing right hook as he pulled his left arm back. His body jerked to a stop as his arm reached it's allowed extension, sweat jerking off his body. The young man quickly stepped in with his left leg and his left elbow swept up and around to his open right palm. The hard bone made a firm and resounding crack against the conditioned palm muscles, Echo's body pivoting to the other side with a jarring snap of his hips that sent a ring of sweat from his body.

His arms swung out and around, his right hand sweeping out in a knife hand chop while his left hand remained close to his chest. This was so that he could block high or low if need be, his tensed fingers curled over to make a slight pocket. His left foot pushed off the ground and curled up in front of his body, blurring as he turned to the side and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. His foot stalled at his head height, the flat of his foot taunt as he held his leg up for a moment.

The foot returned to the floor and Echo also dropped to a crouch, leaning over his front leg. The young fight spun around on the floor, sweeping out in reverse with his right foot and then again with his left foot. Reeling his left leg back in under his body, he sprung back and arched over as he extended his hands out. The tips of his fingers hit the rice mats fist and the rest of his hand rolled down to being planted firmly on the floor, his legs rolling over. As his feet touched the ground, Echo pulled his torso up and after a slight pause, brought his left elbow in a upper cut motion.

His right foot then flew in another round house kick and once the foot landed, his left foot hooked around behind his back in the empty space that would have been his adversary's head. It was hear that it was traditional for a student to perform a series of block for a supposed incoming attack, but Echo always changed it when he was on his own. Once his left foot thudded on the mats, he threw his body to the right and pivoted his legs up and over his body in a handless cartwheel. As he landed, the young man also dropped to one knee and punched out in the air at his opponent's stomach or pelvis region.

Stepping forward with his bent leg, he stood up with a rising left elbow and then hooked another elbow from the right. He flowed with the motion and spun around with left elbow hooking swinging around his back, his right hand shooting out in a full extended jab to what would have been someone's face.

Echo caught himself here, controlling his breathing to its nice even and smooth motions that help regulate his mind and body.

Turning around to the space behind him, the young fighter lifted his leg with the turn and hopped in the air to give an aerial kick with his right foot. Landing on both feet, he flipped up in the air and snapped both feet open when they were above his head. Closing his legs with same speed he had opened them with, he landed with a solid thud and his arms ready for next imaginary opponent. He swept his right leg back, sliding along the mats and dipped his body in what looked like a sweeping duck. With a quick pull and sharp push from his left foot, pulling his thighs together and twisted his torso around.

The result of the various small motions was an explosion of spins from Echo's body as he twisted horizontally through the air, a small storm of sweat spraying out from his gi and body. As he felt his body drop, he turned himself to the other side and landed in a crouch. His legs were coiled under him with his left shin resting on the ground and the right foot planted on the ground, his arms forming a diagonal line from the ground to the ceiling.

Slowly, still taking in deep breaths, Echo stood up slowly and bowed to the place where his master usually stood. He then let his body relax completely, stretching out his back and undoing the heavy shirt of his training gi. He pulled the tails of his uniform out from under the belt and then folded the piece of clothing into a neat pile before dropping it on the floor.

Sweat streamed over his bare chest and stomach, his body tight and heavy from his eleventh time repeating his own personal form. His white pants had long dark streaks from sweat racing down the thighs and calves, his black belt now hanging more loosely around his waist. Echo gave a long sigh as he rose up onto the balls of his toes before he rolled and let his body fall forward.

His hands hit the floor hard and he held himself in a perfect plank position, arms half bent with his spine held near perfectly straight. Then, he began to do his push-ups, his body rising slowly and lowering even slower. It was a part of his training and a regime that his master had given him to improve his physique; pushup, then sit-up, then chin up and finish with twenty of each kick you know.

And so the young man began, his arms heavy and shaking. It was strange at first to understand how Echo had come to this dojo, given that he was raised in a Catholic church and was raised by Father Francis almost exclusively. But the young man had a history with other children, as if they could sense that he was different from them in a base and feral way. So different that it scared them and prompted them to treat the boy aggressively, from stealing his food and clothes to trying to beat him with sticks and lock him out of the building. Echo became very good at avoiding people and disappearing when he had to flee from people, a impressive skill that Francis praised for it's peaceful solution.

Then one day, when he was slightly older, he came across the recreational room as he sought to find some place for peace and quiet, just so he could read a book. Someone had left the TV on and what ever had been on before was over, because there was a movie with fighting in it. And Echo was transfixed by the graceful movements of the bodies, the physical discipline of the warriors and the…sheer confidence that they had in themselves.

Echo stopped his push ups, his entire body shaking on his one hundredth and twenty fourth repetition and his chest was throbbing from adrenaline. Lifting his left hand up, the student rolled his body onto his back and took a few breaths before he began his sit-ups.

As a child, when he had a moment to himself, he would mimic the movements he had seen on the screen and borrow books in the library on the various arts from across the world. He was surprised in himself at his own preference to kicking and his natural flexibility leant itself to this aspect of the martial arts.

Echo paused halfway between going back down onto his back, his mind gently reminding him of why he had come to the dojo in the first place. He had been out in the orphanage quad, with his favorite copy of Huckleberry Finn, and was imagining that he was off somewhere else, living on the river like the brave Huckleberry. One of the boys that always bullied him had come along with his friends and taken the book from him. Upset from being disturbed and worried for damage being done to a prized possession of his, Echo quickly scrambled after his book. But that had been the bully's plan all along, just to get a rise out of him and make him squirm.

Echo closed his eyes as he resumed his exercises, remembering how things had escalated far out of hand.

* * *

_The young Tobias was at least a head and a half shorter that the older boy who held onto his book, dangling it just out his reaches. He could hear the other boys laughing and jeering him on, but he forced his attention remain with his book. It had been a gift from Father Francis and Tobias had taken the best of care when reading it._

"_Aw, what's a matter, little Toby?" The bigger boy, a brute known as Simon, teased as he pushed the smaller boy back with his spare hand. "Does the little Echo want it back?"_

"_Give it already! I want it back!" Tobias snapped as he jumped for it and his finger just breezed under it._

"_Whoops! That was close, crybaby. Catch, Michael!" Simon instructor sharply as he tossed to on of his cohorts and then hit the smaller boy in the chest with both hands in a rough push._

_Tobias stumbled back and slipped, sprawling out in the mud. His white shirt and gray pants were covered in the goopy earth and his face was smeared with mud. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run to the boy named Michael, but someone hooked their foot around his and Tobias went face first in the mud again. Dirt and tears stung his eyes, his face starting to turn red as he looked at the circle of bullies. One of them tossed the book back to Simon and Tobias forced himself to stand again, wiping his face with the back of his hand as he tried to steady himself and clean his eyes._

"_What are you doing to him, Simon?" An angry voice suddenly filled the space, Tobias's face flushing even more._

_A girl, with long brunette hair and endless blue eyes, stormed over to Simon, both of the boys knowing her. She was Jessica, one of the nicer kids and someone that treated Tobias a bit nicer than the others did. Maybe that was way Tobias always felt shy around her, a pit in his stomach wriggling around as he would someone times be caught looking at her. _

"_Just playing with the freak a bit, that's all Jessie." Simon said, rolling his eyes and looking back at Tobias._

"_Don't call him that!" Jessie said, smacking the bully in the back of the head and Simon turned to her with the utmost fury._

"_Get lost, you loser!" Simon said as he shoved her back, the girl falling a lot harder than Tobias did. _

"_Hey! Leave her alone!" Tobias said, his hands shaking in fury and his green eyes flashing with adolescent rage unknown to him._

"_Oh, what's this? The little freak likes her?" One of the boy's sneered, the others laughing at this._

"_Yeah, Andrew, this freak sure fell for a useless piece of trash." Simon laughed, Jessica's friends helping her up. "Useless as the freak is!"_

_Tobias lost it and crossed the space between him and Simon in three steps forgetting about his decision to never fight. He knew how to hurt Simon and refrained because the bully only came after him; he could take the pain, he was used to it. But now he had attacked someone who had no place in the situation and that pissed him off._

_Simon turned back to where Tobias was now and the smaller kid lashed his leg out, his shin colliding with the bully's knee. Simon cried out and stumbled to the side, Tobias able to see pain shooting up in his body. He lunged to the side, his body right in front of Simon's again and this time he swung the other leg at the same knee, hitting the inside of the leg this time. Simon twisted around and landed on one of his knees, his head now at Tobias's chest._

_The look of pure shock on Simon, and everyone else around them, was etched on his face and Tobias's mind forever. Right up till Tobias rammed his fist into his tormentors face and grabbed the book at the same time, Simon crying out as sharp pain shot through him. Tobias pulled at the book but Simon wouldn't let it go and swung out with his own punch, the outsider snapping his leg up in a kick to the bully's face._

_This time Simon let go and fell back in a mess of screams and weeping, the young Tobias looking over him with a ruthless sense of achievement. The sound of rushing feet caught his attention and he turned, his body going cold and numb at the troubled face of Father Francis._

"_Tobias, what have you done?" He asked in fright and worry._

_Suddenly, all of Tobias sense of victory vanished and he was filled with nothing but shame._

* * *

Shaking himself from the memories that were unpleasant and left a disdainful taste in him mouth, Echo gently stood up. He shook his arms and legs loose, alleviating the stress and tension that was in his limbs somewhat; thanks to his flexibility, Echo found his were able to exert themselves tremendously and recover quickly as well. His feet softly padded over to a rafter that hung above his head, the young man swing his arms in loose circles before he jumped up. His hooked onto the edge of the wooden beam, his body loftily swinging as he hung there before he turned his grip around and tensed his forearms.

He took a deep breath and lifted himself up cleanly, his arms and chest pulling up on his abdominals as he did so. As he lowered his body and raised it up again, he couldn't help but smile faintly at the scratch mark under his palms. He had been a very eager student, doing everything that he was told so he could learn more. Father Francis recognized, very much after the incident had occurred, that Echo had some talents in the arts and that maybe tutoring him in the arts would benefit him more punishing him. So they then sought out a school that would best suit him and they settled on a school that more than one discipline, ranging from traditional Karate and Tae Kwon Doe to more modern MMA and Krav Maga.

The young man had chosen to study more traditional arts and for the last twelve years had studied Hapkido, Wushu and recently, only for the past three years, he had been enrolled in the studies of Ninjitsu at the suggestion of one of his masters. Echo did like his new art, the careful attention to balance and precision a definite favorite of his and the sheer variety of weapons that he had been introduced to was amazing. But still, the flowery and electric styles of Hapkido and Wushu would always be his choice of arts. So much he liked those two, that he even became an assistant instructor to the beginner classes. Mind you, that also helped pay for his enrollment in the school and gave him access to the school at anytime he wanted.

And now that he was twenty, graduated from high school and able to leave the orphanage whenever he wanted, he was able to train nearly seven days a week. However, the reality still loomed over his head and he hung loosely from the rafter as he thought about his situation. He really couldn't stay at the orphanage anymore, most because he didn't want to and he couldn't do that to Father Francis. For the past year, the dojo had actually begun paying him to teach three times a week and with his part time job as a bike courier, Echo saving up that money in hopes of affording a cheap apartment. Dropping down to the floor, the young man was about to collect his gi shirt when one of the doors opened up and Echo turned to greet the newcomer.

It was his Ninjitsu master, Master Dogun, and upon seeing his master, the young man bowed accordingly to his teacher. The small, elderly man was just shorter than Echo and his lithe body was adorned with scars and wrinkles alike. Although past his prime, Dogun was still more than capable of tossing the young man around like a rag doll. And Echo knew he wasn't an opponent to take lightly, wondering and genuinely scared to have seen his master in prime.

"Ah, young Echo, I thought you might be the one to lock himself away for practice." The old man's voice was peppered with a thick Japanese accent, one that still confused new students to this day.

"Master…I wasn't expecting you to come in today." Echo said, his voice softly answered.

"I have an old friend from Japan coming to visit me and I wished to show him around the school while he was here." Dogen looked around and smiled wryly, indicating to a set of doors that was at the other end of the room. "Though I do have some time to spare now if you wish to amuse an old man…"

Echo's face broke in a wide grin and he hurried across the room, bowing swiftly to the rice paper. He slid the doors open, revealing a massive selection of weapons, and he took a moment to study his selection and weighed in his mind which would be the wisest choice for this little game with his master. Closing his eyes, he settled on his choice and took two Chinese broadswords off the rack, moving back into the center of the room to wait for his master to join him. The red cloth tails hung over his hand as he mentally prepared himself for using dual swords, a transition that caught some others up at times.

The elderly man stood in front of the selection as Echo had, glancing at his student with a small smile that only made the young man smile even more. He then reached over to the side and removed a spear, the red tassel at the metal head swaying lightly as he moved to his student. The older man held the staff against his shoulder and the younger man held both swords in both hands before him, both bowing slightly to the other and maintain eye contact as they rose up.

The older man suddenly snapped to attention, life seeming to surge through his veins again, and he brought the spear down in front of him. Echo moved at the same speed and at the same time, stepping on leg back and holding the swords in front of him in a staggered position. His right sword rested at his hip level and his left sword was held horizontally before him, the dull edges of the weapon gleaming as they waited for the first person to move.

The young man flicked his left wrist out and knocked the spear to the side with the flat of the blade, rolling his right arm up so he could block the blunt end of the spear that came at him. The wooden butt of the sword bounced off the sword and arched over and down to his leg, his sword swooping down and blocking it again. Wrapping his left sword around his head, he used the circular motion to slash across at Dogen and the elder man brought the other end around. This caught the handle and Echo's arms, the young man spinning with the blow and dropping down as he attacked the older man's knee.

The red tassel blurred down and slapped that hand to the outside, the student rolling over his shoulder to the right as the tip was flicked at him. He steadied himself immediately and found his master with his gaze, the older man sweeping the spear around to bring it crashing down on the young man's crown. Extending his arms up, he crossed the blades and blocked the spear at the neck; he then brought the guard down to block the blunt end as it streaked across the floor. As the wood connected with the metal, Echo used the force to send his body backwards and jumped as his back arched over, flipping upright again.

Rolling his wrists down as he swept in at his teacher, the blades of the swords, now pointing to the floor, swatted the spear aside as he approached when the master jabbed the tip at Echo. As he finished his fifth spin, the young man threw himself in a butterfly twist and held the handles across his waist; this made his small twister of blades and the master opted for rolling to the side when the young fighter threw himself at Dogen. The young man landed on his feet, not kneeling this time and looked at his master over his shoulder, smiling with anticipation.

The older man's spear shot through the air and instead of using his weapon, the young man swatted it away with a hook kick. As his foot landed, Echo began to twist his arms around and made what appeared to be a storm of swords heading to his master. Dogen swept the spear completely around his body and the student was forced to halt both swords on one side to block. The sheer momentum and force behind that strike made the young man stumble back, brining his swords up to guard. Like he was using his hand to slap an ignorant student, Dogen slapped one hand and then the other to open up his chest and face, literally flickering the spear faster than Echo was able to follow. The young inhaled sharply as the tip of the spear raced at his face and he jerked his head to the side as he stepped forward with his left leg.

Tilting his head to left, he kicked the spear away with right leg and blocked it with his left shin. As he went to step forward and give a double strike, the blunt end caught his base leg and swept his feet from underneath his body. His body crash onto his back and before he could flip up, the tip of the spear slapped down on his chest.

The young man knew that had this been a real fight, he would have died.

"Much better, apprentice. You are progressing very well, Echo." The Elderly man said as he let his young student stand.

"Thank you for the lesson, Master Dogen." Echo replied respectively with a bow.

"You are progressing very well, Echo. I feel that one day soon you will be able to beat me at this game." Dogen said appraisingly, as he returned the bow. "Wouldn't you agree, Snake-Eyes?"

Echo blinked and swiftly looked to the door that Dogen had entered through, greeted by the sight of fully covered man. The newcomer wore a skin tight shirt of some sort, that he guessed must have been long sleeved, and then a fully face mask with sleek piece of glass over the man's face, a visor of some sort, where he eyes should have been. The material must have been akin to latex or something along the line of Under-Armor, because it completely accented his all of his major muscles and major facial features. He wore black and white cameo pants on his legs, a thick belt and black combat boots completing the commando ninja image. Over all of this, he wore a long black coat over all of this and Echo could see a hood rest on his shoulders, the older man nodding to the younger man. Echo returned the bow, quirking a brow as the fully covered man started making signs with his hands.

"Yes, he is, very talented for his age." Dogen answered the silent gestures and then turned to Echo. "Echo, my old friend and I have much to discuss. Would please excuse us for a moment and use on of the other classrooms?"

"Yes, Master." Echo said with a slight declination of the head, swiftly crossing the room to put his weapons away and walked to the door. He glanced at the other man, the named his teacher had called Snake-Eyes, and gave him a polite nod of his head, one that was returned. "Sir…"

And he slipped past the ninja and went out the door; bowing again, he slid the door shut for his master and left the two to their own devices.


	2. Resonances of the Past

**Resonances of the Past**

Dogen waited patiently as his student closed the door and listened to his footsteps as they left the nearby room, his old student walking over to him. Dogen warmly grasped Snake-Eyes gloved hand and gave it a firm shake, happy to feel that his student still had the same strength as he did five years before.

"It has been too long, young one. If I had known that you would have found me so easily in the states, I would have moved sooner." Dogen said teasingly, the silent man's shaking with a light laughter and he took his hand back so he could sign smoothly.

The ninja master knew that Snake-Eyes was fully capable of talking, but respected that he had taken up a vow of silence at the death of his initial master and it was a noble way to respect the wise man that had passed away. Besides, Dogen had known Snake-Eyes long enough that it was if the young man was speaking to him aloud with his simple hand movements

_I should have visited sooner, Master Dogen. However, my work…it has kept me very busy_ Snake-Eyes signed before pausing and glancing back at the door with interest as he continued. _I am glad that I chose to come today._

"Echo is a very interesting student, is he not?" Dogen said, a swell of pride bubbling a bit in chest. "I only started teaching him three years ago, but apparently he will be going onto his thirteenth year at this school. A very rare source of talent, I would say."

_You called him Echo. Why?_

"It is sad but he was an orphan with no name, who initially repeated everything that was said and done around him and so he was nicknamed Echo. His real named is Tobias, but people have just stuck with Echo and he even responds to Echo before he responds to Tobias." Dogen explained, fingering a string of beads that remained around his neck. "However, he lives up to the name Echo in many ways. He is able to mimic many moves, even complex and lengthy katas, after seeing them the first time."

_Impressive; I could also see that he has a fondness for kicks and acrobatics, his body naturally flexible._ The mute ninja signed, leaning his head forward in interest. _What were the arts that he trained in before he came to you?_

"He studied the Korean art of Hapkido and the Chinese art of Wushu before he came to me." Dogen answered, watching the black mask bob slowly. "He holds his black belts in both arts and I would say he is close to a red belt in Ninjutsu."

_His weapon skills must be higher than that, if he is able to fight with the former weapons master of the Arashikage and hold any challenge against you._ Snake Eyes question was laced with skepticism, his expressionless face tilting forward in question.

Dogen pursed his lips and folded his arms, becoming pensive as he thought about it. Echo was a mystery when it came to his actually skill level in Ninjutsu because he was able to learn weapons at such a fast level and his katas moved a much slower pace. But the wise man felt that it was possible for him to learn the moves much fast, as though he had deliberately slowed the process down. Most teachers of the arts would teach the same kata to a student a thousand times over, even if they got it the first time. It was for the simple fact that they would always mess up somewhere, even if it was something small like a foot placement or a stumble, and the teacher would make them do the correct version again.

Echo needed no such correction, because it seemed that he was aware of ever inch of his body and what it was doing at any given time. He could do the forms at a fast pace like the masters or he could move slowly like an elderly man, but the moves would still be accurate regardless of his pace. And he would do the same form over and over, even without prompting from his master. He would be on the second form for the purple belts and he when he would restart, Echo began with the very first white belt form. Every form from each art, they are fresh in his mind as the day he learnt them because he did them so frequently. It was as if he was just picking chapters from a book, just flicking over to the kata or style that he needed.

And that was something else; he was able to shift styles very fast. _Very_ fast. He would start with one style and mid blow, from the moment it landed, have switched his style to one of his other disciplines. Echo had once gone from doing Wushu hand work to Hapkido kicks and ended with Ninjutsu grappling in a single sparring match, not once with hesitation or fault. Combined with his near perfect recall of each and every technique he had ever learnt, made Echo a promising student.

A truly frightening but promising student of the arts, just like the one before him.

"I would give him a red belt because he is still falling back into his previous arts. Also, he hinders his own growth, so that he can learn more and perfect his movements until they are as natural as breathing for him." Dogen explained slowly, thumbing a particularly worn bead. "Also, I would rather he spent longer training before he was awarded his black belt. It is a rather significant symbol, one that I'm sure he will live up to."

Snake Eyes nodded as he folded his arms and his body became wrapped in his thoughts. Dogen knew that the young master, one of the youngest Ninjutsu masters in the world, was considering some of great weight. Snake Eyes always took great time while consider things, always weighing out the possibilities and consequences in mind before he even sought council and only then, would he act. As he mused alone in his head, Dogen couldn't help but notice similarities between his current Ninjutsu student and his former weapons student.

* * *

Echo's focus was elsewhere at the time, leaving his master and his old friend, or former student for all he knew, to their privacy. He would have appreciated the same gesture given by his fellow classmates, to not have them fantasize up absurd rumors about his personal life and life outside the dojo. He grimaced as he kicked the heavy bag a little harder than he intended to, the old leather bag jerking to the side from the sudden change of aggression and the dull throb in his shin tensed for a moment.

The young man should have been praised; many people at his age, and younger, would have lashed out and taken out their anger on those that mocked, jeered and bullied the young man. Echo, in a marvelous display of patience and tolerance, would merely sigh or subtly twitch and push that anger out into training or sparring.

Still, Echo was only human and every human had a threshold and a limit to the amount of patience that he had. But he was lucky that Ninjutsu brought along with it several lessons in meditation and focus in regards to controlling one's breathing, emotions and presence. In his lessons of the mind, Master Dogen had explained that emotions were important aspects of a fight because a fight with too much emotion would blind your senses and drown your abilities; but emotion was needed, to make you stronger in the fight and give you a drive and ambition to win the fight. So, one had to learn what their triggers for an emotional response was and deny it the right to display itself up the fighter's face.

Echo was, for lack of phase, a horrible student at mastering his emotions, despite of how reserved he was. He paused his swinging foot and took some steps back, his breathing even and steady. The lessons about breathing had been well learnt, allowing him to increase his endurance by calming his heart rate and increasing his lung expansion. But it was also supposed to help you channel away any aggression, sadness, anxiety or distractions, but Echo was unable to actually put those aspects of his training into effect.

The young fighter sighed and repositioned him self in front of the bag, raising his hands up as he shifted his weight in and around his legs. He had learnt a while back, back when he was still a fresh and undisciplined white belt, that you could push off with your foot to increase the punch that you delivered. It was called kinetic linking, generating power from your base and then releasing it from your limbs. It was a nice little trick to know, shifting the other foot to rebound off the first punch and deliver a ruthless cross hook.

So that was what Echo was doing now on the bag after doing fifty kicks with each legs and with every contact he made, he could feel the jolt right through to his shoulder. Tightening up the joints from his wrist to his shoulder, he grinned faintly with satisfaction as the bag began to move more that his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Echo?"

Echo paused mid-swing and opened his hand, the hard leather stopping short on his palm. He turned and felt his confusion leave his face at the sight of Sensei Graham, bowing his head slightly. Sensei Stephen Graham was a more senior teacher at the dojo and he was mainly in charge of teaching Karate and Jujutsu, as well as providing a sparring partner for people the likes of Echo. He had been impressed with the young fighters ability to adapt to the situation and had given him some pointers when it came to grappling, an area Echo was unfamiliar until a few years ago.

He wasn't terribly old, just entering his fifties, but he showed his age more than others with salt and pepper hair and weather eyes. He was well built, more bulky that Echo was, and, unlike Dogen, Graham was a few inches taller than the young man. However, all that did was hide his craftiness, speed and comfort at fighting on the ground. Behind him were three students, all of whom Echo was familiar with and the teacher gestured to a young lady to his left.

"I want to help prepare Douglas and Jeffery for the upcoming competition, but we are one short of a student and this means Abby has no sparring partner." Graham explained, Echo glancing at the only girl of the class. "Would you mind amusing Abby until these two are done?"

Echo gave a soft smile and nodded gently. "Of course, Sensei Graham."

Walking away from the bags and onto the spare section of the floor that the Jujutsu class was using, Echo took a brief moment to overlook his opponent in order to size her up; it was unnecessary, given that she was a frequent sparring partner of his.

Abigail Dawson was a very athletic woman, priding herself on her physically endurance and strength. She was one of the few women that he knew of that could have a flat stomach, with minor abdominal definition, and still be called sexy. The tone in her arms and legs were frightening, hidden in the light full gi that she wore. Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and her forearms flexed with wiry strength and faint veins. She had great skill with her joint manipulation and chokes, but she lacked in the takedown and some areas of standup, a weakness that Echo was familiar with.

It was funny because in a traditional martial arts uniform, she traded in all of her feminity and curves for one of the most focused and determined mindsets in the martial arts. Once she was back in her skirts and blouses and her short blonde hair was out for all to see, she had curves for days and the flirty, spunky personality to match. It was amusing for some guys, because they spent too much time staring at her chest rather then defending themselves, something that angered her a great deal.

"Echo-Sempai, thank you for your time." Abby said with a friendly smile and a bow, before she looked questioning. Sempai was a traditional title in the Japanese arts, one that junior students used for the senior students of the class. "Didn't you have a lesson with Sensei Dogen?"

"No, I was just doing some free training, Abby-Kohai." Echo explained softly, declining his head to her bow. Likewise, Kohai was a term for a students junior, in a more respectful fashion. "He is also busy with an old friend, but maybe later he will have time for me."

"Ah, understandable." She then set her self up, set her legs in a L-shaped stance and holding her arm open. "Same rules as last time, the Submission Victory rules?"

Abby was a good friend, but not someone who he spent a lot of time with and so he never understood the reason for light conversation before they began. With other students, she would just thank them, bow and then begin the match. But she always seemed to try and make him say something, like she was looking for more of a connection with him.

But, given his dedication to the arts and his life at the Orphanage, he didn't feel comfortable bringing her into life. He just never seemed to have any time to get to know her.

"Yes, that is suitable for me, Abby-kohai." He responded, lifting his hands up in a loose guard and set his feet in a diagonal angle.

They eyed each other for a moment, Echo loose and relaxed to adjust while Abby was collected and tight for a spring. At what seemed to be an invisible signal, the young woman lunged in and Echo felt her attacks rather than saw them. He felt her grab the cuff of his gi and the material at his shoulder, her right leg pushing his own right leg out. As she moved his leg out, she began to twist and pull at his right as she went for a standard right hip through. A good tactic for her, using her powerful hips to lift him from the ground, and would have worked against a less seasoned opponent.

Echo's free hand struck the back of her left ribs, his left foot pushing her left leg forward to kill her momentum and halting the throw before it even began. Abby sucked her teeth pivoting on the spot and grabbing his slightly extend hand at the wrist, sweeping his arm around in a near perfect wrist lock that lead to a throw. As the young man felt his body pivot to the left, the talented student jumped, and with a pivot of his hips, managed to land in front of his opponent from a handless cartwheel. Grunting with annoyance, Abby forced his arm back on itself and kicked his left leg out.

Giving a grunt that was loud for the normally reserved student, Echo hopped off of his right leg and pushed such torque into his hips, his body was sent in a horizontal spin. He was so close to the ground that he couldn't land on both feet and so, he landed on his left knee and his right shin resting against Abby's left one. He could see her smug face and he knew, annoyed with himself for being predictable, that she had planned for it. But she was also starring at his grip on her wrist, something that had stalled her next action.

Briefly.

Her right foot swung around and her knee connected with his left ribs, knocking off his precarious balance as she forced herself atop of Echo. But this time, Echo had her surprised, and slightly worried, because his left leg was bent between their torsos and he was actually holding her off of him. Giving a gurgling grunt, the stubborn young man pushed her up and she shrieked slightly as she was literally flipped over onto her own back. Letting her wrist go, the agile fighter rolled back onto his hands and pushed himself upright on his hands; tucking his legs in slightly, he fell back so that he was sitting on Abby's stomach in a position that was called the full mount.

He crossed his arms over as he grabbed the collar, hoping to use the fabric to choke her out but he was now in her domain. Abby hooked her arms over where his wrist crossed over and pulled his forearms to her chest, wedging his hands between her forearm and her breasts. Echo couldn't help but blush lightly as he tried to find some way out, the young woman flushing as his hands squirmed atop her bust.

"You know, there are easier ways to feel me up, Echo." She said flatly and the young man froze, blinking as he tried to think.

The feisty woman beneath him then struck her free right hand across to the right side of his neck, pushing him back as she grabbed his left arm. Her right leg hooked over his left one and Abby flipped them around so that she was now on top, though she was still between his legs. She grinned mischievously as she hand her arm wrapped around Echo's left arm, applying pressure to his elbow, and her other arm applying pressure to his neck, closing his windpipe and arteries off from his head.

"Jeez, if I had known that would have work on you Echo, I would have tried that a while ago." Abby said smugly, leaning down to whisper to him while apply pressure to his neck but it also gave his left arm some room to move. "But, you should know, you're the one guy who I wouldn't mind coping a –urk!"

Echo grinned as he sized his chance, his right arm wrapping around behind her head and neck. As she abandoned his left arm and freed herself, he grabbed her left arm with his right and pushed his knee between them. He then pushed her right arm down and pulled himself up, his left thigh swinging onto her right shoulder as the knee clamped over her neck. His right knee looped over his left ankle and he gripped her left arm, pushing his hips as he used the triangle choke to its fullest potential.

He could feel her squirming about but after a few minutes in his deadlocked grip, Abby patted his leg light with her free hand. It was known as tap out, a sign of surrender from the defeated so they didn't loose consciousness or break any bones. The moment she made her second tap, Echo had his ankle unhooked and rolled to the side as he unfolded his leg to release a coughing Abby.

"Damn, Echo…your getting better at those locks…" Abby said between breaths as he remained on the floor while she forced her self to sit up.

"Yeah but your getting better at reading me." Echo pointed out and sat up. "Not to mention using my weight against me and messing with my head."

Abby looked lost and when he was standing, it changed to disappointed but she smiled when he looked at her. "Yeah, I'm a sneaky one."

"I know, it's why I think you're a good fighter." Echo said as he gave his hand to her and when she took it, he pulled up with a shaky lift. "Keep at it, okay?"

"Yes, Sempai." She said with a bow before resetting herself. "One more?

Echo sighed and smiled, taking up his initial stance again. "Why not?"

* * *

Dogen knew that Snake Eyes had potential when he first joined the Arashikage Clan and he knew that that Echo shared that same potential. They both had an instinctive intuition for the combat arts and they both pushed themselves far beyond what was normally expected of regular students, rising the standards of the class.

The elderly man could really say that he knew Snake Eyes a lot better than Echo, despite the fact that he taught the younger student a wider range of techniques that what he initially did for his former student. However, the unarmed arts were not where Dogen's skills truly lay, for he was recognized as one of the clan's foremost weapons masters. There was not a traditional weapon that Dogen could not turn his hand to and use to its fullest potential, making it a perfect extension of his body.

Dogen remembered quite clearly when he met Snake Eyes for the first time, the class at hand for the young man and his training partner, Storm Shadow, had been the staff. The staff was a excellent weapon for beginners to start on and the two youths took to the weapons with great vigor. The Hard Master's nephew had taken to a far more aggressive approach to sparring with the staff, a clear sign that he would like more aggressive weapons such as the katana, but the young American had taken to defense, choosing to guard himself before attacking. As time passed and they went through the various weapons that Dogen offered to teach them, it was very clear that while both were master's of the swords, Storm Shadow excelled with bladed weapons while Snake Eyes seemed to pick up various kinds of weapons as he was taught.

He remembered one particular day, when sitting with his new found student during a brief break after Storm Shadow had given a rather cruel beating to Snake Eyes, that he finally asked him. What had happened to his family? The young man looked so somber and repressed, that Dogen immediately regretted asking the question when the boy suddenly answered him. He then told the older man how his family had been killed by a gang and he survived because his mother told him to run, right before they cut her throat. The weapon's master was sympathetic but alas, Storm Shadow was not, having over heard the conversation and snidely called the young blonde a despising coward. For the first time in knowing the young man, Dogen saw true hate in Snake Eyes true eyes.

It all came to a head at the final sparring match that they had as children, when Snake Eyes choose to use a pair of tonfas over a sword to spar with the young clan born ninja. In the fury of their fight, it was hard to tell who had been born into the clan and who had fought for every inch that they had gained. Whatever strike Storm Shadow tried to land, Snake Eyes had a defense ready and a counter following up behind. At the end of the match, with the Hard Master's nephew sprawled on the floor and the young American ready in stance expectantly for his opponents return. But it never came and Dogen could feel a mutual pride that he shared with the Hard Master at both students, for they had shown two very distinct and crucial characteristics.

Snake Eyes had shown Perseverance, unwilling to give up on his journey and his training to this point in his life. He had gone from being the defeated in their matches to being the victor.

Storm Shadow had shown Humility, an honorable decision that recognized when one defeated. Many a time the aspiring ninja had come back and wiped the floor with his American opponent, but this time he was willing to acknowledge that he had been defeated.

Or at least, that was what the instructors and masters had thought and Dogen was grateful that such a promising student had let his foolish grudge go. Snake Eyes had been learning forms under Dogen's watchful eyes when the alarm went off, the young almost instinctively knowing something dreadful had happened. After the Hard Master's death, the clan began to fall apart due to squabbles. Snake Eyes stayed still he was a recognized master but then he too left, feeling that many held him responsible and, while many didn't express such thoughts, it was the truth in their hearts.

Dogen fought the urge to spit and shook his head sadly; how blindingly ignorant those of the Arashikage had been. They had honestly believed that no outside of the clan could have ever matched them and their skills, that they somehow purer and stronger than any other fighters in the world. How terrible that such tragedy would follow the young man around like a swarm of hornets.

But Echo's past was also filled with tragedy, or rather bleakness similar to the masterful warrior beside him. The young student he was gifted with today was an orphan from a much younger age, left on the orphanage steps in the rain and nearly died if it wasn't for the intervention of his current guardian, Father Francis. Francis was a very good man, very soft spoken and calming in words; Dogen could have easily mistaken him for a Buddhist priest over a Catholic due to his immensely relaxing manner and trustworthiness.

According to the other teachers that were here before the elderly Japanese man, the young man was brought to this dojo because of a incident at the orphanage and the Father's relations with one teacher at the facilities. Apparently, the boy, when he was no older than eight, had managed to deduce kicking techniques from watching an old Wuxia film. When Echo showed when he had replicated, it impressed the teachers well enough and they sough for an art form to suit him. However, the interest that the teachers showed in him was not well received by his classmates, both in the orphanage and in the dojo, and the first year and a half was difficult.

Eventually, after seeking consultation with the other teachers in the orphanage and the dojo, Father Francis agreed that Echo needed to be sent to a local school, one that several students in the dojo attended. Their hope was that at more diverse place he would be a less likely victim of bullying and he would make some encouraging friends. While this initially created more friction, it also introduced Echo to the real world and he eventually stood up to his bullies in his first year at high school. Apparently, another student of the dojo had been overly rough with a student at the high school and the reserved young man stepped in, holding his own even when the back up came for the bully. The student that Echo had dealt with was suspended for several days and was demoted back to a white belt, the silent youth praised for his control in the situation.

And there was one other similar element that both students of the weapon's maser of the former Arashikage clan shared, a dark trait that should have been corrected before it manifested. They both shared a rival; where Snake Eyes had Storm Shadow, Echo had Connor Signer.

* * *

Echo groaned as he felt a sharp shooting pain race through his elbow, his free hand clawing at Abby's gi pants. This was their fourth round since he forced the grappling girl to submit from a triangle choke and this would be her third victory. Because he knew he had no escape.

His right arm was extended straight past his ear, her right in between his leg and head. The back of his head rested against her pelvis with her left leg wrapped around his neck and her right knee hooked around her left ankle, choking him as she applied pressure to his elbow. His right hand was tucked into Abby's right armpit and her right forearm was braced up against his right elbow, pushing up at the point before she broke his arm. All she had to was tighten her thighs or lean back with her weight and he was down for, via broken limb or suffocation.

The girl was a monster when it came to submission, Echo knew that as he patted her leg and she loosened up. She had been at the dojo for three years less than the young man she had just defeated but, unlike him, she had focused solely on Jujutsu. The only other class she had done was Brazilian Jujutsu and that was to see if it was a style that she was comfortable in. The reserved student eased himself up and rolled his right arm around, still feeling the sting of her joint locks, glancing back when he felt slender fingers lightly massaging his shoulder.

"Easy there, Echo-Sempai." Abby's voice said in his ear and he let his muscles relax. "Let me loosen your arm up a bit after all that roughhousing. You're a good on the ground when it comes to improvising, but you're better stand up fighter, sweetie."

Echo chuckled and sat silently, legs folded and left arm rest in his lap, as Abby worked on his right arm. He glanced behind her and fought the twitching urge to narrow his eyes, the muscles in thighs and forearms tightening instead.

Behind her, out of her vision thankfully, was another group of classmates that Echo was not on the best of terms with. Out of the five that were there, three had been in his Hapkido and two had been passed over for the Ninjutsu class that the reserved student was in now. They were all about the same height, but one stood out from the others with his unruly ginger hair. His name was Connor Signer, a student he knew from his first days in the dojo that was in his Hapkido class and one student that despised him more than any other person in the dojo.

He stood at a close equal to Echo's height, just between six feet and six one and he was more narrow than the silent student, a much leaner build. The ginger mop on his head fluxed between various styles but for the past few months he had kept brushed forward, long tips hanging around his brow. Sunken cheeks also gave him sharper features and his bright blue eyes seemed to burn everyone who looked into them.

Connor and the orphaned student had been made partners in sparring and forms when they first met. It was because Echo could pick up on small differences in people's movement and the ginger was excellent at explaining techniques. He wasn't too bad when the reserved boy joined but as he grew and rose to being the top student with his partner, so did Connor's distaste of Echo. It all came out in the open after four years, when they were just going twelve and Echo had finished his Wushu class that was before his Hapkido class. He had decided that it would be wise to change out of the sweat soaked clothes into something dryer….

* * *

_Echo sighed as he splashed cold water over his face, shivering slightly as the chilling water rinsed the dried sweat from his skin. It had been a good class, Sifu pleased with progression and told him that he could consider for next testing in a few weeks. It was exciting for the teenager, bring a smile to his face as he turned the tabs off and left the sink to go to his locker. Loosening the sash from his waist and undoing the buttons of his shirt, Echo lazily tossed the top half of his uniform into his gym bag. He tilted to the side and then twisted his torso the opposite way, his spine crunching as he did so. _

_The door banged open and Echo turned to see two students from his Hapkido class, Sam and Wesley, entering, giving them a polite wave. Their rolling eyes showed how much they appreciated the gesture but Echo was more concerned with Sam's look of disgust towards him, furrowing his brow as he kept staring at him._

"_What is it?" The young teenager asked, Wesley looking at Sam and the other boy sucked his teeth, walking closer to Echo._

"_I still can't believe that they let you come to this school. I mean, your basically an homeless bum, so how can you afford the tuition here?" Sam sneeringly asked, the quiet boy turning away from here._

"_I doubt that you personally earn the money to pay for classes here either." Echo said evenly in his soft tone, Sam gritting his teeth and clenching his hands. "My guardian pays for the classes, just as your parents do for you. We're no different, you and I." _

"_We're nothing like, you freeloading bastard!" Sam shouted, stepping over the bench that was bolted to the floor and approaching Echo, fast and angry. "Understand that, orphan."_

"_Sam, calm down." Wesley started as he reached over to his friend but Sam slapped the hand away._

"_I just wonder, is there a limit as to how pathetic you are? I mean, we've all heard about it." Sam said in a seething tone, Echo feeling his blood boil as the other student kept spouting off at him. "To be dumped out on the steps of some orphanage, that's just-"_

"_Shut your mouth or I'll do it for you." Echo said sharply, his voice dropping and his eyes narrowing at the other boy. He slammed his locker door shut and Sam's knuckles cracked eagerly. _

"_Like you could, teacher's pet!"_

_Echo's left hand shot out and with his hand open, slapped Sam's fist out with the back of his palm. His right arm shot up and smashed Sam's left hand into the locker before he kicked Sam backwards with the flat of his foot. Wesley reached out and grabbed the normally calm fighter as Sam stumbled back, Echo reacting out of instinct as he felt a hand on his left arm. He slapped his right hand onto his opponent's hand and then wrapped his left arm around exposed limb, striking him just above the ribs. _

_As Wesley gasped sharply and painfully, Echo turned and, holding a considerable amount back, kicked his opponent across the stomach. Wesley's body dropped down just as Sam got up, Echo releasing poor Wesley as his friend fast approached. Echo backpedaled as he slapped Sam's incoming punches down or to the side; he knew that Sam was good with his hands and preferred his knees over his feet when it came to kicks, making a close fight a bad idea normally. Echo suddenly stepped in, breaking Sam's rhythm and elbowed the boy's left arm in hard. As the limb crossed further over his body than what he had intended, Sam was shocked when Echo's left hand jerk his attacking arm across and he felt something wrap around his neck. _

_Echo's right arm was now looped around Sam's neck and his left arm held him it in place by hooking its elbow around his right hand. While his left hand clamped on the back of his opponent's head, he tightened his arm; not to choke but to let him know he had lost, which was clear when Sam began to panic. Echo held him for a little longer, regaining a hold on his temper, before he loosened his arms and shoved the boy away._

_The door banged open again and the three boys turned to see Connor walking in, looking confused at the sight that beheld him; a gasping Sam, a groaning Wesley and a shirtless Echo._

"_Um, what seems to be the problem here?" He asked cautiously, approaching Echo slowly._

"_Me and Sam had a little trouble, which sadly involved Wesley." Echo explained, looking back at a fuming Sam before he turned to Connor. "I'm sorry, we-oompf!"_

_Before he was even looking at his Hapkido senior, the other boy had viciously kneed him in the groin and Echo doubled over as he felt white hot pain shoot through him. As he looked up at Connor, he was in time to see the tip of his elbow slam on the side of his head and he collapsed, half on the floor and half on the bench._

"_You should know, Echo, better than to touch those that are better than you." Connor said calmly and evenly, as though he were correcting a student's stance. "After all, how could an orphan be worth anywhere near the same amount as a normal kid?"_

_Echo felt his eyes sting with pain as Connor laughed, walking over to Wesley and leading him away. When he wondered what happened to Sam, Echo yelped as a foot connect with his ribs and Sam came into his vision._

"_Catch you later, you freeloading bastard."_

_The door banged shut as they left, Echo shaking as he sat up and gritted his teeth as more than his body stung with pain and shame.

* * *

_

Echo glanced at Abby, bring himself out of his memories and smiling at her. She returned it as she let go of his arm and moved on to examine his shoulder. He detested lingering on such distasteful memories but they were the ones that glared out in the most obvious manner.

Connor, ever since that day, made no secret of his distaste for his sparring partner, as he would often deliver the most brutal combinations to Echo's body. The teachers knew something was amiss but because the reserved student would never complain aloud about the abuse, they were never able to press the issue. Five years of it wore on, with Echo building his strength silently and his speed subtly as Connor continued to flounce his abilities. More students took advantage of the orphan's silence to torment him in sparring until when he was seventeen, when he was entered into a tournament by his sensei.

It was the one time that Echo refused to hinder himself in his fighting, because he was representing his school's pride and honor in this event. He was entered into two events, forms and sparring, and he managed to take second place with his forms. When it came down to sparring, which took over three days to finish with all of the schools in the district competing, Echo was entered against everyone who was at his skill level.

This included Connor and Sam.

"Hey, Abby?" Echo's tone caught her attention and she looked up at her friend. "I think I'll be okay. I just need to do some stretches."

"Mm, and that has nothing to do with Connor and his little groupie of jerks." Abby asked in a deceivingly innocent tone, making Echo smile.

"He's personality is similar to that of a rock star, huh?"

"More like a diva!" Abby and Echo both chuckled at this and she took her hands away from him. "It's okay. I was close to being done anyway."

"Thanks for that, by the way." Echo said appreciatively, Abby waving him off.

"Don't sweat it; your willing to pull your punches a bit, so it seems fair to ease what I did to you." She glanced back at Connor, the ginger puckering his lips to her and she look put off at the suggestion. Glancing back at Echo, she shook her head. "You know it's because he can't take you being better then him."

"I wouldn't say I'm better, kohai…" Echo started but trailed when Abby folded her arms and gave him an amused "are you serious?" look.

"Sempai, you proved that you were better than him three years ago and, as much I don't like admitting it, you've actually grown more than any of us in our year." Abby admitted, holding up her hand when he started to speak and once she knew he would stay silent, the same hand rested on his arm. "I don't mind admitting because, you know what? You earned it."

Echo wanted to say differently, wanted to arguing against her but he knew that it would hurt her feelings. But he didn't like to be recognized as the most skilled fighter because he honestly didn't think that he was. He was sure that there were some kids that were holding back as he had before, afraid to let it out as he had been too and were throwing their fights.

He also knew that Abby was much stronger than what her teachers or even she believed, since she was able to go toe-to-toe with him. She adapted without hesitation and if she got her reaction time up a little bit more, then there would be nothing to stop her.

"Okay, I'll accept that…" He agreed, placing his other hand on hers and she blinked a bit at him when he smiled at her. "…but you have to know that your one of the few fighters I'm afraid to fight and that I respect."

The girl gulped softly and turned her head away from him, probably from embarrassment since her cheeks bloomed a little pink. "I-idiot, you're just smart to be scared of me."

"Of course, how silly of me." Echo said gently, releasing her hand and started stretching his arms across his chest.

* * *

Snake Eyes was focused on Dogen's words, eager to learn about this boy's, this Echo's, history. He was deeply disturbed to hear about this boy's relationships with others and his early childhood, uneasy with how similar he and the boy were to one another. He knew the loneliness of being alone and having to deal with everyone thinking the worst of you with every action you made.

But once he joined the Joes, or rather he was recruited into their program, he found good friends and a comradeship with others that he never had before. He felt that despite he spent most of his life in Japan, he grew the most with the Joes and that he truly knew who he was because of their help. He knew that he owed a lot of that to Scarlett, the one person who would speak for him and knew what he was going to say as though she could see his face. They were recruited about the same time and they were similar in similar ways due to their intensive upbringings, though she was far more academic than he was. She was the one out of all of Joe's Alpha team that he would let watch his back over anyone else.

"….which was good, I finally got to see what the other teachers talked about and only glimpsed, at first. His forms execution was flawless during the tournament, each movement clear and crisp as though he was drawing them out." Dogen's voice disrupted his private reflection and brought him back to the subject at hand. "Although he took second place, I think many would accept this was due to him making a minor, and maybe deliberate, fault in his Wushu form."

_Deliberate fault? What do you mean?_ The young ninja master questioned, curious about this.

"Well, he took one extra step that he should not have made and a gave an extra punch, placing him in second place. The boy who took first place even petitioned for Echo redoing his form but the young man refused, content with his standing."

_He probably knew he could have done better and chose to fail. Perhaps he is uncomfortable with that kind of recognition._ Snake Eyes suggested, though his personal thoughts weren't that far off of his signs. _What happened with the sparring event?_

"Oh, that was a different story. He took that with a much different approach and greater focus than any other student of our school." Dogen said as he shifted his weight, sighing. "It also made the dislike towards him grow because of what he ended up revealing."

_What do you mean? What did he reveal?_

"Oh, he revealed why he had been willing to take such abuse from everyone. It was because it made his body use to the blows and it increased his reflexes and recovery." Dogen explained but his tone made him seem older with each pass word. "His matches against his fellow students didn't ever go past two rounds, because he was so familiar with their fighting tactics. He had sparred with them so many times and restrained himself so much, that for them it was as if they were fighting someone they hardly knew."

_Incredible. If he hid his skill that well, I am truly impressed. An interesting tactic, since he must have known that a competition fight would have been inevitable_. Snake Eyes admitted and then tilted his head slightly, straightening again. _Did he spar against that Connor boy?_

"Oh yes and that was the most aggressive fight that I've ever seen." Dogen confessed, rubbing his forehead. "Connor is a good student and very adapt at sparring, but he wasn't prepared for Echo and his new zeal. It was though everything that he had done to Echo had come back right at that moment and in the first round, Echo knock him out cold, with just one technique."

Snake Eyes could hardly say that he was surprised and was proud that the young man had dealt with his bully in such a firm fashion. His resolution to not allow his torment to continue on and his skills clearly, from what he had seen first hand and what he was told, were well worth the Arashikage clan's techniques.

The one question that Snake Eyes had now, and that was for the boy and himself, was whether or not he would agree to become an apprentice of another?

* * *

Echo remembered the tournament that he fought against Connor in, he was reminded of it every time that he walked into the school. There was a display case behind the register and there were photos of the groups that participated in each tournament for each year. In that photo, he was sandwich between Abby and Wesley as they gave him a joint congratulatory hug. Looking very bashful and with a silver and gold medal around his neck, it had to be one of the few photos of Echo in the world. Abby had her silver medal for her grappling competition, in what Echo felt was one of the closest matches he had ever seen, and Wesley had his gold medal for his weapon forms, the staff in his spare hand used in the forms that he had masterfully performed.

He sighed, a bit strained, as he lowered himself down and then pushed up again, his back scratching against the wall. His arms locked in place, giving him the rigid support that his handstand needed, before he bent them again and lowered himself down; the handstand pushups that he was doing was a great way for him to work his balance and his arm strength at the same time.

As he came up on his fifteenth rep, the young man rolled down slowly to his feet and stood up, albeit a little wobbly. Handstands were fun and useful for various surprising kicks and maneuvers in martial arts, but Echo hated all the blood rushing to his head. Kind of how his memories would flood to him, two particular instances in the tournament because they had affected his life at the dojo the most and changed the outlook other students had on him. It was his fight against Connor and then his final's match, both showcasing his true devastating skill.

He and Connor had been in the preliminary round which took place on the first day and it was his fifth match of the day, his body still taunt and bouncing from the previous fights. The reserved man barely remembered the referee telling him the rules or the bell starting the round but he did remember the feeling of the mats under his feet as he moved around and Connor's aggressive start. He could also remember the look of shock as Echo blocked, weaved and evaded his former senior in their match, the look of horror as the silent teenager stopped him dead with a kick to the chest, swept him the other leg and then caught him with a hook to the back of the head.

It was the silence, though, that really stuck with him. The crowd had stopped cheering or booing, he couldn't hear his breathing or Connor's taunts and every pair of eyes mutely stared at him. No one would come near him as he left the ring, carrying his fallen opponent to the on site EMT and then knelt in meditation. All he could was wait.

Abby wasn't bluffing when she said that he had grown the most in these three years, but that was because his teachers wouldn't allow him to hide or hinder his abilities anymore. They all knew what his limits were and also what his learning rate was now, so they pushed him more so than they did before. Echo appreciated it greatly, feeling he was five times the fight then when he competed three years ago, but it had not improved things with Connor.

Echo lowered himself down as he squatted down on his legs, sliding one out to stretch it. He always stretched, even though he rarely had to, because it was a safe precaution. He could still see Connor out of the corner of his eye, sparring with Douglas now that Abby and Jeffery were going at it. Defeat had stung the ginger's pride badly and he refused to speak with Echo for months afterwards, becoming a savage beast in sparring that was only restrained by the reserved student. But when he agreed to spar his rival, Connor would either hardly restrain himself or just let all of his strength out on Echo.

Echo slowly switched sides, wondering if Connor would ever just let the past go; it wasn't as if he had been intentionally trying to embarrass the ginger student but he had left himself wide open. Not to mention, his instructors had told him that they wanted him to hold up the honor of the school and show them what their students had achieved, that he should not hold back due to his uncertainties. It was that permission that had allowed Echo to abandon all restriction and doubts so that he could show what his school had taught him. In some respects, he was glad to have received permission to use his talents as such and then there were times he wished he hadn't.

As he straightened up and pushed his hip out, he could hear the grappling match escalate from the noise of the scuffling and looked over. Douglas had Connor in a head lock, the ginger kneeling as the Jujutsu student tried to reposition himself so he had greater leverage. The bitter student threw his elbow back into his attackers thigh and Douglas buckled under the attack, his grip slipping just a bit. The ginger jerked his legs under his hips and grabbed the back of the grappling specialist, leaping up and over in a somersault to land behind the poor boy. The practicing student was stunned by the more experienced fighter and grunted in pain as Connor place pressure on his victims joint by standing up with his knee against the other boy's shoulder.

The panic was clear in Douglas's face and Echo felt the fear he did, walking near them as the ginger kept leaning back further. "Connor, he's tapping! Let him go!" His soft voice was loud, resonating across the room.

Deep blues look at his dark greens, the ginger baring his teeth in a leering grin. "Or what, orphan-boy?" Connor snidely taunted, the sound of straining joints almost audible. "You goanna spank me, loser?"

Echo gauged the distance between them, his mind working blindingly fast and he gritted his teeth as Connor looked down, the space less than his height. He knew he could clear the distance and he knew he could help Douglas, but this was Connor he was looking at stopping. He knew that behind his target and around him were friends of the boy, friends that would rush in to help if the moment ever arose. But Echo couldn't afford to risk Douglas's health and so, he prepared to enter. He looked around Connor and saw Abby looking at them, mouthing "you" while she pointed at Connor; Echo gave the slightest nods to signal he understood. But it took too long.

A sickening, crunching snap broke the tense silence and Douglas's face, red from the strain, was now streaming with tears.

Abby and other's started in but Echo was the one there first, Connor dropping the other boy and kicking at his long standing rival. The now enraged student blocked the limb at the shin with his right arm and slammed his palm against the ginger's chest, sending the other boy back. He almost lost his balance but he regained his footing, faking a right hook at Echo's head and connecting a upper cutting elbow. The solid bone connected with the orphan's cheek, making his head jerk away and duck under a kick. As he came up again, he dropped down and swept Connor's standing leg at he tried to give a hook to Echo's head.

The other boy dropped hard on the ground and groaned as he lay there but was protected, Echo's advancement stopped by two of Connor's friends, Sam and Daniel, as one kicked at him. The reserved fighter blocked the kick and hopped back from Daniel's incoming punch, catching his wrist as he did so. The orphan's foot seemingly blurred as he whipped it from side to side, the sides of his foot colliding against the insides of both his knees. Daniel's legs gave out and Echo nailed him with crossing elbow to the face, the boy falling back with a bloody nose. Dropping down under another kick from Sam, the normally restrained boy flipped backwards and slapped the next kick that came at him. The open palmed strike stunted the foot's progress and the orphan capitalized on his bully's disarray to drop him.

Lunging in the fashion that some predatory animal might have, Echo coned his fingers to make his hand cupped and then drove his fingertips at Sam. His four fingers whipped against the other boy's diaphragm, pulling back and struck the same spot with the harden heel of his palm before spinning around him as Sam dropped down breathless. It was a basic technique in many arts but Ninjutsu explored the use of pressure point a great deal more than any other art Echo had studied and the effects were amazing and terrifying at once. For instance, he knew that with the way he struck Sam and the angle his hand had been at, the boy would be breathless for several minutes.

More than what Echo needed but a necessary precaution.

Connor's foot lashed out at his face again but came back on it's self and Echo blocked the tricky hook kick, sliding to the side with a side step. The nearly deranged student lashed out with a jab aimed right at Echo's face, but the reserved student strafed to the outside of the fist and as his head went past his rival's elbow, his left uppercut connected with the other boy's stomach. But that was only part one of the move, the follow up a hook kick right into his chest. The upper cut had pushed the left side of his body forward and made his body pivot back to the right, the flat of his foot swinging around to collide with Connor's chest. The boy, because Echo could hardly see him as a young adult after what he did to Douglas, dropped to his knees and the reserved student reared his fist back to send his rival into a dizzy unconsciousness but was stopped.

He looked to his right and saw that his arm was being held by a black glove, his sight falling down to see the gleaming black visor. Echo didn't realize how hard he was breathing until now, his ears deaf to almost all sounds from the anger at his rival's stupidity. But the face of Master Dogen's friend, the man he had called Snake Eyes, seemed to drain him of his rage and strength to fight. He bowed his head and stepped back, bowing more fully to the ninja. The other man returned it and Echo turned away from him and Connor, rubbing his mouth and cheeks with both hands. His legs shook from overworking and a familiar burn simmered in his back; three hours in the dojo, several sparring session and now this fight were taking their toll on his body. He fought a grunt of unease as he lowered himself down to his knees, folding back onto his heels and fought to try and keep his distain of himself from smothering him.

It was a task that he did not succeed in.

* * *

He was sitting outside the main office of the Dojo, the dark green eyes of Echo drearily rest on the opposite chair as he sat in the hallway. In the office right now was Connor and his parents, as well as Sam and Daniel, the head instructor explained the situation and the ramifications of what would happen.

Abby was sitting to his left, since she had been a witness to everything that had happened as well, and she had taken to resting her hand on his arm. He appreciated it, any support right as a form of reassuring that what he had done wasn't the stupidest thing in the world. They had changed from their gi because they couldn't bear to wait around in their stinking uniforms and so, with their bags stuffed under their chairs and slouched down in their chairs, they waited.

His thick black hooded sweatshirt and t-shirt kept him warm and his upper body moist from a thin line of sweat, his auburn hair still slick and spiky. His jeans were stretched and torn at the hems, the ratty ends covering his ankles as he nervously bounced his right leg slightly. His hands were nestled in the over sized pocket that he had in front of his hoodie, fingers laced and flexing nervously. Abby was in her jeans as well, hers much better kept than Echo's and her feet nearly disappeared in wide openings of her hems. Her blue tank top was covered by her dull red sweater, her short blonde hair held back by a black cloth that wrapped around her brow to the back of her head.

Dogen and Snake Eyes were there as well, sitting on the opposite side of the door and talking softly in Japanese. Well, Dogen was talking in his native tongue while his friend continued to sign in smooth and clear gestures, so they technically were talking. The young man would have preferred to have been speaking, but he wasn't even sure of what to say to Abby.

"Do you think Douglas will be alright?" The heavens must have had their ears to the ground, because they heard Echo's prays.

"I don't know. It looked like a clean break and if it's set right, he could be better in a month or two." The reserved boy observed.

"Yeah, but the tournament is going to be next week." Abby pointed out, Echo feel numbing pit in him form. Out of the whole class, he knew that Douglas had been training the hardest and wanted to compete the most; it was his first tournament. "I don't see how expelling Connor is going to make Doug feel any better."

"He'll feel safe at the school again?" Was all the boy could offer and he saw that it's poor effort was rewarded with a depressed acceptance.

"Maybe….if he comes back." Abby pointed out that scenario rather gloomily and Echo patted her hand reassuringly.

"Douglas will, he's got the spirit to do it." He did, Douglas was one of the most upbeat students in the school, even compared to the kids. He just had this shinning optimism that never seemed to leave him.

"I hope so…" Abby was less than convinced and Echo squeezed her hand, the blonde looking up at him.

"Have faith in him. I'm sure that what he needs most right now is the knowledge that we're going to be behind during his recovery."

Abby smiled and nodded, her short hair bobbing up and down as she did so. She would have been support Douglas the entire way regardless of what Echo had said, but hearing him mention their friend's recovery made her think about the positive aspects again. Seeing Abby down didn't make anyone feel better and it actually made her look rather aggressive. Well, aggressive in the sense that her mind was still in a dojo mindset and not in the real world, like she was shoving her bubbly self aside.

The reserved student knew that there was only room in world for one of them to be like that. Since he had been like for nearly twenty years, he was almost a master of the art.

"Do you think you'll get in trouble?" Abby's question brought him out of his reverie, her tone low so that no one else might hear.

"I don't know, probably, yeah."

"But why? You were angry sure, but you didn't go and break somebody's arm." Abby pointed out for his defense, her determination showing on her face. "The worst that you did was give those bullies some bruise and winded one of them."

"I think it's a little more complicated than that." Echo suggested, tilting his head even more to his friend so now he was looking at her. He knew that there more to it than that. "It probably has a lot to do with me loosing my temper like that."

"Tobias, your only human." That had to be the first time in years that Echo heard Abby say his real name and it sent strange warmth through him. "What, do they expect you keep all of the emotional chaos that surges through you perfectly contained?"

"I think you see why that is the case." Echo pointed out, shrugging as he slumped even more in his seat. "I mean, it was at the point that my Master's friend had to step in and stop me, probably because you guys were too scared to step in."

"No, I was too busy with Douglas, as was half of the school." Abby said in a cheeky tone, sticking her tongue out to him and he chuckled lightly. "But seriously, isn't the dojo for us finding a way to channel out emotions into something constructive but also for us to have an outlet?"

"Um, yeah, that's the aim of every schooling facility." Echo said in agreement.

"Well, you come here and there is just more drama being thrown at you. The amount of emotional abuse you seem to go through here and at Western is just keeping you from expelling any of your emotions." As Abby explained her theory, Echo really didn't have the heart to tell her that she was right about him. "It's just making you turn inwards and hide from us."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize, just be a little more open with some of us." Abby said as she stared at him, fiercely like a tiger might have towards its cubs. "I…we actually worry a great deal about you."

Echo smiled and nodded, the door opening on his right. Connor walking out, his actions so rigid and stiff that the outcome might has well have been written all over his face. He stopped at his rival's feet and the look that Echo received was one of the most scathing and revolted looks in the world. His whole body language just broadcasted that he want nothing more than to lunge at the orphan and pound him away to oblivion. The reserved student felt Abby's nails dig into his skin and he in turn gripped her hand a little more, letting her know that he was fine. Connor glanced backwards, seeing his parents come out and stormed off to the locker rooms, the office emptying quickly.

As Connor's parents and friends walked past, the looks that received ranged from anger to confusion, intrigue to despising, unsettlement to fear. The last one surprised him the most, his deep green eyes question the blue eyes of Connor's mom and she had to turn her head away as she quickened her pace.

"Tobias?" Echo looked back at the door and saw the head instructor of the school, Martin Murray, was looking out at him, wearing a tired smile. "Thank you for being so patient, though I'm not surprised; it's one of your better qualities. Please come in."

Echo returned the smile and stood up, leaving his bag under the chair and shuffling into the room. As he sat down in the chair, he was surprised when Dogen and Snake Eyes came in as well and felt a little alone when the door closed. It effectively sealed off his friend from giving any support to him, but he would just have to tough it out. Dogen eased down in the chair beside him, while his friend chose to lean on a table behind them.

It was a little unnerving having a ninja master hover behind you, especially one that was still in his prime and was able to catch you when you moved at full speed. But still, maybe he was here to give some support or something along those lines, so Echo would wait and see what happened.

"Ah, Tobias, I can assure you that you are not in trouble. I was a little surprised to hear what you done, going after Connor and his friends like that, but then I also realized the history between you." Martin explained gently, Echo relaxing slightly. "I do realize that Douglas is a friend of yours and considering what has happened between you and Connor, your actions were some what expected."

"Oh." Echo wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. "Still, I shouldn't have lost control like that."

"If you have too much emotion, you are swallowed by it. Have to little, then you have no spirit for the fight." Dogen said sagely to Echo, Martin nodding in agreement.

"Yes, very true. We are only human and emotions play a large role in our lives. Would you rather that you had none if it meant that this would never happen again?" Martin asked.

Echo consider it; it would be nice, to no longer have that maelstrom wrecking about in his head and heart, to just be at peace. But then that would mean that he wouldn't have the feelings for his friends, for Father Francis, for the arts he studied so passionately. He hung his head and shook it, Dogen patting his shoulder reassuringly.

"That being said, we have decided to expel Connor from the school for his actions and his friends will be suspended for several weeks." Martin explained, Echo a little unsure of how he would feel about the lack of his rival. "There is another matter at hand, however, that your master wishes to discuss."

"Hmm, what is it?" Echo said as his head shot up and turned to Dogen. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, my student, you have done everything that I could have asked for. What we wish to discuss is the furthering of your Ninjutsu training." Dogen said and the young man perked up immediately, looking from his master to Martin, and then to the mysterious friend before looking back at his master. "You're learning at a very impressive rate and while I can guide you to your black belt, I am not the most suitable. My former student and current Ninja master, Snake Eyes, has expressed an interest in teaching you."

Echo's eyes widened and he looked at the masked man who nodded in confirmation, his gloved hands writing on a pad of paper. The young man was stunned; this was clearly not what he had been expecting. Sure, hearing praise was a nice motivation for him to continue practicing that much harder and it did always egg him on. But this was something else completely.

His face became twisted with concern as he looked at his master. "This means I will no longer be a student under you?"

The old man, with a sad smile that a grandfather held only for his family, shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm going to use the time to visit some family and then come back, hopefully rejuvenated from my trip home." Dogen explained and clasped his wrist firmly as those old brown eyes seem to sparkle with new life. "But Echo, it is time that you spread your wings and soared. This dojo has been your home, I understand, but it is time for you explore other grounds."

"We will always keep a space and a locker reserved for you, but Master Dogen is right." Martin offered, Echo feeling a great disease in him. "It's time that you moved on and found a place for yourself in the world. You must want to travel and see the world, right?"

Echo did want to travel around but more so, he wanted to get out of Father Francis's hair. He had been with the man for twenty years; he should be in University but instead he had choked and was still here in this town. Maybe traveling with this man and training with him really would help him figure out what he wanted to do with his life.

Before he could answer, he heard paper being torn and Echo turned to Snake Eyes, the masked man holding out a piece of paper to him. Inscribed upon it, had to be some of the neatest and most elaborate cursive writing that Echo had ever seen. He straightened the paper and his eyes began to digest the words written before him.

_Echo, I do wish to teach you and I think that the potential for you is greater than any other person that I have trained with or trained personally. I know that it's frightening to take on a new master, seeing as how there is a great deal of trust between master and student. I would never want to replicate what you have with Master Dogen, but I can promise that I will help you as you strive higher and higher._

_There is also a second part of my teachings that Dogen neglected to mention. In becoming a student of mine, you will also be trained as a soldier as I am a member of an elite unit in the army._

Echo looked up at the masked man in shock; a soldier, him? He didn't have what it took to make the cut for the football team, let alone the army. But the ninja master raised his in a calming fashion and he gestured for him to continue on. Echo gulped and looked back down at the paper.

_I know that must seem a little blindsiding, but in my particular division we had suffered great losses. I was tasked with finding a recruit with similar martial arts abilities to mine and teaching them in order to help them fit in. I was unable to find such a student in the military bases that I searched in, so I accept Master Dogen's offer to meet about you._

_I can honestly say that you are thus far the most suited for the role that my Commanding Officer has in mind. You have a great deal of fighting skills, you have combat experience, you are loyal to your comrades and you are willing to learn with every action you make. True, you do not posses the military experience that we would normally look for and you have no training in military skills, but I think you could pick these up faster than many of the other recruits that we have taken in._

_The choice will ultimately be your but I must admit that I really do wish that you would join. I feel that I can help you grow, in martial arts, life and emotionally. And I'm sure that you fit right in with our division._

Echo's mouth was so dry, he was afraid his throat would just split open. Sure, he thought that it would have been cool to train under another master in Ninjutsu but to also receive military training? He could not describe the nervousness that he was now experiencing, his mind racing with so many thoughts that he felt that he had the entire world wide web streaming across his brain.

"I…is this how you recruit everyone?" Echo asked dazedly, Dogen chuckling and Snake Eyes seemed to shake with what he guessed was laughter, nodding at the young man. "I don't know what to say. I mean, do you honestly think I have what it takes to make the cut?"

Snake Eyes hesitated writing on the paper and looked to Dogen, his hands moving it smooth and fluid strokes. The older man understood immediately and began translating. "I think you could definitely make the cut. Your in extremely good physical shape, you appear to be very smart and you would benefit from military training in many ways."

Echo gulped and looked at his master. "Dogen…"

"Sorry, Echo, but is a choice that you have to make for yourself. If you agree, then you will be leaving tomorrow afternoon. If you disagree, this may be the last time you ever receive an offer like this."

Another piece of paper crossed Echo's peripheral vision and he took it from the ninja, the note much shorter this time.

_It's true, Echo. I am only allowed to make this offer to you once because of the nature of our work. We're not always heroes and we do the work that very few people want to do, stopping our enemies at any cost sometimes._

Echo sighed and cupped his face with his hand. He knew he had to make a choice sooner rather than later, but that meant he had to weight out all the options right now. If he stayed here, he would be in an environment he grew up in and knew best of all. He would probably go on to be a instructor of this school and play some sort of role in the orphanage. His bullies and those that disliked him would probably grow even bitterer over the years and their tactics may escalate, eventually claiming someone's life. Or they could mellow out, but Echo doubted that he would ever forgive them; too much had been said and done for him to just "forgive and forget".

But if he went with this Snake Eyes, he had no idea what would happen. He would join the army and continue his training but that was all he knew. He may never go out in the field, he may just stay as an instructor for newer students. But he couldn't say what would happen, not really.

…and that excited him more than anything else in the world.

So he stood up solemnly, the older men looking at him as he bowed to Dogen and then to Snake Eyes. "I am ready to go when you are, Sensei."

* * *

"What?" Abby's face was filled with shock and disbelief. "You're serious?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Wow, that's…that's just great."

He was standing in front of his seated friend, the girl who had waited for nearly an hour as he sat inside with the three teachers. She had been smiling and hopeful when he walking out, a smile was on his face as well. But as he told what had happened, her face slowly changed to something of disbelief. She stood up slowly and thumbed the strap of her bag that rested on her face, fighting those tears that threaten to spill over her face.

He reached out to her, but froze when she looked up at him and he saw her normal upbeat face was twisted in regret and sorrow. Before he could comprehend what was happening, she had shuffled closer to him and wrapped her arm around him, her arm tightening as much as they could.

He felt like the asshole of the world right now.

"I'm sorry, Abby, but this…is a chance I can't really pass up." Echo tried to explain but his voice failed him and he just sighed.

"I know, Tobias, I know. I was just hoping that I could have done this sooner though." She said, looking up at him and bit her lip nervously

Pushing herself up on her toes, the young man felt his body flushing with a tingling sensation as Abby pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth in a kiss and as she pulled back, it left a slightly salty after taste from her tears. He stared at her in disbelief, unable to think of anything. He remembered what she had told him once, that she only kissed people that she seriously cared for or that she was interested in. They were close but she had never done anything like this before, which meant one thing….

"…seriously?" He asked weakly, Abby giggling lightly.

"Yeah, for a while."

"How long?"

"Come on, Echo, I don't kiss and tell."

"I wish you told me sooner. Now, I'm all-" Echo never finished his admission of doubt because Abby resolved the doubt that she had given him by accident.

"No, stick with what your going to do and just don't forget us here, okay?" Abby asked, pleading with her eyes as she glared at him. She then soften and patted his cheek. "I'll see you around, Tobias."

And all Echo could do was watch her walk down the hallway, speechless and uneasy. But he steeled his nerves and grabbed his bag, walking one last time out of the dojo and towards the orphanage.


	3. Echoes in the Dark

**Echoes in the Dark**

Echo could feel his teeth rattling in his jaw as the helicopter flew out over the ocean, his CD player cranked up pretty high in order to help drown out the drilling sound of the prop above the tin can he was in. He never got an iPod because it would have spent too much of Father Francis money and he was content with just a CD player; he just made a lot of mixed CDs and had a case full of songs that suited his various moods or needs when he was on the move. Across the hull of the copter was Snake Eyes, still as a statue but that was probably due the lack of conversation to be had.

After all, there was much conversation to have when one doesn't speak and the other doesn't know sign language.

At his feet was a medium sized duffle bag, maybe four and a half feet long, and it held all of Echo's possessions. Jeans, t-shirts and muscles shirts, a couple of books and some notebooks that held half attempts of poetry and drawings were what just filled half of the bag, but that was all he had in the bag. It was all he had, period. The black turtle neck, the neat jeans, a relatively intact leather jacket that Francis had given him and his soft sole black shoes were all he owned as far decent dress attire went and he was wearing them now. He wasn't one to buy loads of crap for the sake of owning something, only keeping things that held some emotional attachment to him.

The bag was mostly collapsed at his feet and he had kicked it under his seat after acquiring his CD player, tossing a random disc on only to be rewarded with rap tunes that had been a favorite of Wesley's. Right now, the track Beautiful by Eminem was racketing in his ears and Echo was honestly indifferent to it. He didn't mind the artist and he didn't mind the music, he just preferred stuff known as grunge rock, nu metal or symphonic metal.

They had been flying for about a couple of hours and all he saw was a lot of sand when he looked out the window. The pilots barely said hello to him when he boarded and he doubted that they would say much more now on route to…wherever they were going. He wasn't even sure where this base was but he could tell that it was either on a carrier or in the middle of the dessert. The young man sighed and gnawed on the inside of his lips again, his mind still in limbo after this morning.

The previous evening had been spent with Francis, Snake Eyes and another soldier that was cryptically introduced as Sergeant Wayne. They went over the details of Echo enlisting with the unit and what this would mean for the young man, since Francis had remained his legal guardian all his life. While Francis was initially shocked at his young charge's decision to join the army, he ultimately agreed to support him through his efforts. He knew that Echo's teachers and the members of the military were right, that it was well past for the young man to leave his home and experience the world. And when he heard what GI Joe wanted to offer him, the priest was even more forthcoming.

* * *

_The three men sat around the desk of the priest, Echo's chair pressed up against the wall as he was just there to listen. He had already made his choice, now it was the U.S. Army's turn to fill in some blanks for Father Francis._

"_Father, we aren't just talking about furthering the young man's martial art's abilities and training him to be a soldier." Sergeant Wayne informed the devout Christian. "We intend to give him the equivalent of a college education while training with us, pay him the equivalent of a staff sergeant, and we would provide room, board, clothing and other equipment for daily life." _

"_Really? Is that standard practice in the army?" Francis asked, out of genuine interest but also to see what his charge was getting into._

"_Honestly, no. Young Tobias is being enlisted in a very special and elite unit of the U.S. Army, one that is called in when all other options are exhausted. It will be hard and it will be hell for him initially, but Snake Eyes believes he can do it." The Sergeant looked at Echo and then at Father Francis. "And if the most talented special forces ranger of his division and the head instructor of unarmed combat thinks the kid can cut it, that means he can." _

"_Is there a reason that this man doesn't speak?" Francis asked dubiously, noticing now after a few silent nods and shrugs._

"_This is Snake Eyes and his silence is due to a vow of silence he under took when his master was killed." The Sergeant explained, Francis leaning towards him a little in curiosity._

"_Ah, so that is the connection that you share with Tobias." Francis mused before he stared pensively at the masked man. "Snake Eyes, I am to understand that you are the one I will be entrusting a young man that I have raised as my own son. Is that right?" _

_His response was a swift and curt nod, Echo watching the banter as Francis leaned back and removed his reading glasses, running a hand through his thinning hair. Time was wearing on the old pastor, his step lacking a spring in now that he was turning seventy something but his face was still somewhat youthful. He wore his glasses more now and he need to stop every once in a while to catch himself, Echo often there to offer his support._

_And what Francis had said was true. Tobias had been raised like he was the son of the priest and Echo had been grateful for the all of the care, wisdom and generosity that the old man had bestowed to him over the twenty year of being in his care. Echo felt his face tighten as a slow tightness crept into his chest and that the knowledge of leaving him hurt him the most because it meant Francis would no longer be there._

"_Snake Eyes, I am an old man, I know that. It's getting harder and harder to keep up with someone like Tobias and I know he has so much left to achieve." Francis said to him, speaking as though the mute man and he were the only people in the room. "I do believe that you could be someone to continue teaching him and helping him grow into a decent man, a brilliant man. But I wonder, in that course of teaching him, will you be able to keep him safe?" _

_The uniformed man was about to respond when Snake Eyes slowly stood up and took a small notepad from the table, a pen suddenly appearing in his hands. His gestures were long and smooth, the pen seemingly dancing of its own accord on the paper until he tapped it to leave a dot. He handed the paper, the priest replacing his glasses on his face and smiling as he read the note._

"_I understand, young man." Francis said and stood up, offering his hand to Snake Eyes. "In that case, with that understanding between us, I offer all my support and blessings to you and to you, Tobias." _

_Echo looked at his father, his father, and smiled, standing as he turned to face him. The older man's eyes twinkled and the two embraced, both gripped the other tightly but their coats. Now, with the Father's blessings, he felt it may be a little easier.

* * *

_

It didn't make the departure from his home any easier

It had to be the hardest meal that Echo ever sat through, his stomach unable to really digest anything as he sat with his orphanage family one last time until he had to walk away. He just spent the night wandering around the orphanage, remembering all the odd little memories that he had throughout the old building. It was surprising that he would remember so many vague and various details that he thought he would never linger over, eventually ending up outside as he continued his walk through his memories.

His first lesson in reading in the reading room, Father Francis and he pretending to sail around the world with their imagination and pictures in books, Simon giving him first black eye in the hallways to the bathroom, the first time he saw Jessica and when she first smiled at him in the classroom, the dusty patch that had served as setting for his defiance against Simon in the mud and rain, the tree he had help a younger orphan climb so he could see across their small city…

He couldn't argue that he did held a deep spot of love for some of the younger students and when they had woken up early enough to see him off, it had brought a tear to his eyes. He gave them all a warm hug and even accepted a small photo album they had hurriedly put together last night, as a way for him to always remember them. As the head nun ushered them inside for class, Father Francis remained behind and asked him if he wouldn't mind that the young man give the older priest his crucifix. Reluctantly, Echo handed over his silver cross that he had been given on his confirmation and was shocked to see the father removing his pendant from his neck.

It was the St. Michael's cross he always wore, a cross design inspired by the mightiest of angels, and he held it out to Echo. It was a black crucifix with a gold center, a pair of wings folded at the back of the cross and was on a black cord that was clasped by a silver chain. The priest said that he now had a way to never forget his father and his father had a way to always keep him close to his heart. Despite Echo not being overly religious, it still brought tears to the young man's face as he hugged his adopted father tightly.

The reserved young man felt his body tilting as the helicopter shifted its course slightly and he was bumped out of his reverie. The track filled with the rapper's disillusioned lyrics were replaced with a slightly more somber tone with a rock bands song, Let It Die by Three Days Grace, and it came just as he dared to remembered the only other person that had bid him a personal farewell…

* * *

_There he had been standing in the middle of the playground, after he had just finished taking one last walk around the old grassy pitch and had stopped by an old tree. It was a beast of an old thing, Francis telling him that it had been erected well before his time as a priest in the facilities and Echo was sure that it would still be here well after he passed away. He sighed as he traced his fingers over the old bark and remembered the first time he had managed to climb to the highest branch in the tree. _

"_I'm not surprised to find you out here, Tobias." A voice called out to him, his heart skipping a beat at the sudden presence of someone else and who it was. He turned to find Jessica standing behind him with a small smile, her denim jacket buttoned up against the cool night as her blue dress floated in the wind. "You always liked being outside, except in the dojo."_

"_Their both places I feel at peace." Echo explained softly, shifting his weight as he felt his curiosity grow in him. "Shouldn't you be inside? I mean, you got that placement test tomorrow." _

"_What? I can't come out and say goodbye to a friend I grew up with?" She asked sadly, the young man nodding wordlessly._

_They had grown up a great respectively, her change more noticeable than his. While she had been a childhood crush, she had slowly become a more gentle beauty over time and he slowly felt that desire for her wane as he was introduced to other people outside of the orphanage. She had kept her brown hair at her shoulders and now her blue eyes were much brighter than in her youth, her pale face and dark lashes offering a flatter background to her eyes. _

_It was funny, especially now that Abby had so tactfully revealed her feelings to him, that he felt that former attraction churn in him briefly. He tried to pass it off as he was going to miss her once he left, but the reserved student knew his thoughts better and it was even more obvious when he watched her as she walked around him._

"_So, drafted into the army? Sounds like you're going to be off in the dangerous part of the world, Tobias." She said in worry as she leaned against the tree and he fell back as well, his back resting near her._

"_Not really. They said I would have to spend a considerable amount of time training first before they would send me out and even then, they said it would be simple enough stuff." He said assumingly, his green eyes searching the stars above them. Hoping they would offer some answers to any questions that she might ask. _

"_How did they recruit you? Did you sign up at the Army reserves?" She asked curiously and he figured the truth couldn't hurt._

"_Nah, a friend of my master came to the dojo and was impressed with my skills." Echo explained, glancing at her. "Master Dogen said that I would benefit from training with a younger and more exuberant teacher." _

"_Sounds to me like he had trouble keeping up with the resident ninja." Jessie teased and Echo chuckled._

"_Well, maybe sometimes." He confessed, remembering some times when he had worn out his teacher. "Mind you, that old man was crafty enough to keep me on my toes every class."_

"_So, he was a good teacher?" _

"_One of the best, hand down." He glanced to her and nodded in remembrance. "I highly recommend him to anyone looking to learn."_

"_Cool." _

_He and Jessica never really talked about his training because he wasn't sure if she would like to hear about the martial arts. Since she disliked fighting so much, he had wisely kept many details of his training a secret from her and mainly told her it had been a way to keep himself under control. The truth, just not the whole truth._

"_Hey, Tobias?" This time her voice was soft, with the same hesitance as he normally had. _

_So he looked at her in concern. "What is it, Jess?" _

"_Did…jeez, I don't know, did we do something wrong?" She asked sadly, her hands tightly laced together as distraught appeared on her face. "Are you joining the army cause of us?" _

"_No, of course not." He said in surprise and confusion, but she took that as he was just trying to placate her. _

"_I know we haven't been the best family for you and you were treated the worse, b-but please…" She lost her nerve and words, her hand trying to speak for her until she grabbed his hands. "Please, please don't go." _

"_Jess…" _

"_We can make things better, I promise." She begged and he closed his eyes as he felt tears prick his eyes. "I…we, I don't want you to disappear…" _

"_Jess." This time his voice was firm and solid, her face collecting as he stared at her deeply with a faint smile on his face. "I'm going because, because it's time for me to move on." _

"_Tobias…" _

"_I'm not leaving because of you, not because of anyone here or at the high school." Echo assured her, his hand now gripping hers tightly. "Those that are here now will always be my family no matter what. But I need to go. I need to move on and this seems to be my best choice."_

_Jessica clearly disagreed, turning her face from him and he slowly let her hands go. She glanced at him quickly and slid her arms around his chest, pulling him close for a hug. Father Francis, Abigail Dawson, Jessica and Wesley Plymouths were the only people he knew that he felt safe hugging, which was why his arms wrapped around her as well. He could feel her sob and slowly she took a breath._

"_Promise that you will be safe, no matter what." She whispered and he nodded against her. "So many of us have just left and never looked back, I don't know what's going to happen." _

"_Have faith, like Father Francis says." Echo said to her, the young woman giggling as she pulled back and looked at him with a sad smile. "I'm sure we'll meet again. Jess."_

"_You promise, Tobias?" She asked, her eyes begging him to and he conceded with a nod._

"_I promise, Jessica."

* * *

_

He knew he had lied to her, he knew he had to.

But what was he suppose to say? That he was being drafted into a secret paramilitary division of the army that only took on the most extreme of situations? No, that would have broken her and she never would have forgiven herself for letting him go, possibly even following him to make sure he was alright. He had said what he knew was the right thing to reassure her and to make her believe that he might be back at some point.

It was a horrible lie, but it was one that was better than the truth.

He rubbed the crucifix under his shirt and sighed deeply as he leaned back in the firm seats. The orphan knew that he had made the right choice in coming with Snake Eyes; his life had been going no where back home and he was wasting what potential he had, whatever he had to begin with. This was a chance for him to gain some sort of structure in his life and possibly amount to something, maybe even find a goal for himself at some point. The training would definitely be an enlightening procedure for him and he felt that with him learning some much at a higher level, that he hoped it could funnel his interests into something other than martial arts.

Because really, what else was he good at?

Echo pondered this, looking back at his education at high school experiences at the local high school. He had been very apt when it came to physics and chemistry, his attention to all details allowing him to adjust the slightest things can catch many variables that were off. His physically education was irrelevant to mention, seeing as how his physicality had gotten him this audition with the army, and he never really had much love for English, other than his passion for reading and his occasional dabbles in poetry. He never liked analyzing books all that much, rather keeping his insight and thoughts about the developments to himself. History was much like reading, just without the descriptive excitement and anticipation in each page, and Geography was just looking random pieces of dirt to him.

Now, he did like Art, learning the techniques to illustrate what he was thinking and hearing people's various interpretations was always fun. Math was also easy because once you had the formula everything else was easy and Echo was very good memorizing information. But still, Math seemed to cold for him to get too involved with; it was too logical, too wrapped up in numbers and statistics for any creativity. So, again, he was left to ponder what his talents were.

But another tilt in the aircraft and a jerk this time disrupted his thoughts and he looked out, something new finally in his sight. A massive hole was opening up in the ground, like some sort of fantasy monster that dwelled in the sand for unsuspecting prey and it's role in the world was something akin to Greek legend of Cerberus. A grotesque guard dog to protect a hidden world from the ignorance of mortals and ambitions of foolish heroes.

Somehow, Echo didn't think he was that far off as the helicopter began its winding decent into the depths. For a few feet, he didn't see anything other that yellow lights that were some sort of guideline along the path. They had to drop for about thirty, forty feet until the windows were flooded with light and Echo was greeted with a massive steel structure that was hidden beneath the sands of the dessert.

There had to be close to a hundred people running around, tending to machines or various weapons. The aircraft touched down as Echo craned his neck around the small window and something firm tapped his knee, looking over to see his new teacher. Snake Eyes beckoned to him and turned to the opening hatch, the young man quickly disengaging the safety harness so he could follow his teacher. Hurrying down the steps, Echo was just in awe of all the coordinated movements around him and the sheer precision of the military.

He spotted the masked ninja waiting for him a few feet from the steps and hurried after him as he stuffed his CD player in his duffle bag, Snake Eyes moving to a nearby door when his new apprentice was close enough. Shouldering his duffle, Echo soon matched his new master's stride and took quick glances around him as they proceeded through the complex. He felt a serious unease as people gave him questioning looks but quickly adverted their gaze from him and continued their duties. Some of the groups would whisper about him, wondering about what he was doing here and why he was following Snake Eyes.

The two martial artists turned sharply into a pair of door, entering a small room that Echo guessed to be an elevator and the masked man pressed a button labeled two. He looked around, hoping for some kind of legend or guide to see what was happening but he wasn't so lucky. He sighed as he shifted the weight on his shoulder and his ears caught the sound of someone quickening their pace, even more so when the doors started to close.

"Snakes! Hold the door, please!" A voice called out, the orphan catching the hints of a different accent from the normal tinted British or toned American.

The silent ninja complied with the request and tapped the 'open door´ button, the doors jerking a brief moment and then opened again. A man shorter than Snake Eyes and in a similar looking shape hurried in. His skin wasn't dark but more so of a deep caramel color, his tone almost as though he was born with a perfect tan. He wore a dark blue sweater and green camouflage pants, which seemed normal attire for what he had seen so far, but the headset that he had strapped to head was a little far out.

He looked back at Echo in almost confirmation and his eyes widened, turning more to the youngest person in the small metal box. He seemed genuinely surprised but in a sort of pleased way with the way he smiled welcoming to Echo.

"Oh, hi! You must be a new recruit." The older man greeted, offering his hand to the younger man. "I'm Abel Shaz, but everyone calls me Breaker here and in the field."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Shaz, I'm Tobias." Echo greeted, hesitating as he shook hands with Snake Eye's friend. "But, I'm also called Echo."

"Well, nice to meet you, Tobias." Abel then looked at the silent ninja as the elevator began to ascend. "Is this your choice in a recruit, Snakes?"

The silent man gave a few signs with his hands and the other man blinked. Echo looked confused as he watched the exchange. The accented man looked back at the young man and he nodded.

"If he's that good, I can't wait to see him in action." Abel said eagerly, putting his back to the wall so he could look at them both. "So where did you serve before this? I was stationed with the Moroccan Army before coming here."

Echo uneasily shifted his weight and shrugged, not seeing any reason to lie. "I wasn't stationed anywhere. This is going to be my first time signing up with the army."

The surprise on the other man's face wasn't hidden at all and Echo's fingers suddenly decided that playing with the strap over his shoulder was a good idea. His new master glanced at his new charge and then looked to newcomer, making quick gestures in sign language. Echo didn't care who taught him or how he learnt, but he was goanna learn ASL even if it killed him.

Whatever was being conveyed it seemed to impress the headset man and he looked at Tobias, nodding in either acceptance or satisfaction. "So, Tobias, where are you from?"

"I'm from Pittsburg, from a little city a little outside of Detroit." Tobias explained, that life seeming so far away from him. "You said you were from Morocco?"

"Yeah, it's where my parents met." Abel said, Echo smiling fondly at the mentioning of parents. "I joined up with the Army there and fell into information management and communications, up until the Joes recruited me."

"Cool, so you deal with computers a lot?" Echo asked, nodding to the man's headpiece. "That kind of explains the hardware you got."

"Ah, yeah. I do deal with a lot of the technology that goes into the Joes. It's really fascinating to see how technology comes together to help us in the Alpha unit." Breaker replied enthusiastically, something he said bringing up a question in Echo. "Snakes doesn't always share my enthusiasm, but then again technology is not really his specialty."

"Does this mean that everyone in the Joes has some sort of focus?" The newcomer asked and Breaker, happy to explain things to the new recruit.

"Well, we all just seem to have things that we have a better understanding of. One of the guys in the unit, Heavy Duty, is our heavy ordinance support, while Snakes is more of an advance scout and close combat specialist." Breaker said, the perspective helping Echo to understand things better. "But we all do a little bit of everything just to make us a better team. I'm sure that General Hawk will explain things better."

General Hawk. He had heard Sergeant Wayne mention that name to Father Francis and later, when they met at the airport, he told the young man more about the leader of the Joes. A four star general who had served in the Vietnam War and the Cold War, he was a veteran from the original Green Beret program and had seen more combat that half the men his age. He had commanded troops for over half his life and he was the one who designed and petitioned for the GI Joe program to be put through, stating that there would come a need for those troops that were above the Special Forces standard.

Apparently, some of the tactics that he had employed were still used as training exercises in Fort Bragg.

"Hey, Mr. Shaz?" Echo's questioning tone broke the technician's ramblings and he looked at the younger man with an appreciated smile.

"Please, Tobias, call me Abel or Breaker. No need for such formalities."

"Ah, okay, Abel. Um I was wondering….what kind of person is General Hawk?" Both men looked at him as the elevator slowed down, neither really expecting that question from the young man.

The technology gifted man paused in whatever response he had and his features pulled inwards. Echo could see that he was trying to find the right words to use in his description of his boss. It was sometimes difficult to describe a superior because you didn't want to be too biased if you liked them or too negative if you didn't get along with your boss. Most people liked professional responses and a relatively general feeling of the boss, leaning towards the positive never really a bad thing.

"I think he's great, honestly." Abel said fairly, shrugging before he folded his arms. "He leads us with the utmost tactical precision and he knows when to kid around with us a little bit."

Echo nodded and smiled. He didn't sound so bad.

* * *

"So, you're the kid that Snake Eyes seems to think will be fit to join one of GI Joes squads?" And now Echo recanted that opinion, as the older man stared at him over his desk and he felt a wave of nervousness enter him like never before. This was a man who commanded hundreds of men with surgical precision and chess like tactics, something to respect if anything. "Well, if anything, you might fit the physical requirements."

"Yes, sir." Echo said softly, wishing that Snake Eyes wasn't standing behind but more so in his line of sight.

General Hawk didn't look as hold as Echo had imagined him to be but his cool dark eyes, that just seemed to peel back his skin and read his soul like an open book, were almost devoid of warmth. They had seen so much pain, defeat, victory and sacrifice, his real age revealed in the pits of his brown eyes.. His hard face was carved out with deep facial creases, lines that showed that he was as every bit hard as his position demanded him to be.

The older man eased back in his chair, his eyes searching over the younger man before him. Echo knew that he was looking for something in him, to see if the reserved young man would get irritated or start to act nervous. He was nervous but he had learnt that if there is one thing you never show, it was uncertainty; so he kept his back straight, his face neutral and his hands neatly folded in his lap while he met the eyes of the general.

The door opened and Echo watched as General Hawk waved someone in, an attractive brunette walking past the young man and handing the general some files. The older man nodded his professional thanks and sifted through a selection of some four folders and then slid one out, opening the tanned vanilla folder up with a quick glance to Echo.

"Tobias, no official last name recorded and no official date of birth ever recorded or discovered; even your biological parents are unknown, people you have never tried to find despite them being the only family that you might have." General Hawk listed off, and Echo realized that the man had some how gotten a hold of his record. He didn't even want to know how he had managed that, keeping quiet as he watched the older man patiently. "O- Blood type, left handed, you graduated last year with a B+ average, with an A in physics, but you choose to do another year at the high school to gain some prerequisite credits in psychology, physics and mathematics after you were denied acceptance to you colleges of choice. They said this was due to…" General Hawk frowned as he read the script and then looked up at the young man. "and I quote, 'due to an aggressive incident involving you and three peers'. Could you explain what that means?"

Echo could feel his cheeks burning with a blush and he actually couldn't meet the General's eyes because of it. He knew exactly what incident the report was referring to and while he wasn't exactly regretful of what he had done, it was still embarrassing to hear someone mention. The scout from the University of Notre Dame had informed him that a red flag came up on him in regards to that one incident as well and regretfully informed that he would be unable to attend due to that incident.

The reserved young man sighed, running a hand through his lengthy, brown spikes and his composure slumped a little bit. He turned his forest green eyes back to his new master's superior, his gaze dropping slightly.

"It was my second year at high school; I had to be about fifteen, sixteen at the time, so I had been training for some seven or eight years." Echo explained, figuring he had to start at the beginning or else nothing would make sense. "I didn't have many friends from my first year but I was pretty close with this one kid. He was a real smart guy too, a bit of nerd and didn't do so well with physical demanding things. So, third week into school, some members of the football team were giving him some serious hassle and I happened to walk down the hallway when…"

* * *

_Echo rounded a corner in the hallway, not caring too much about the pace that those around him were setting or about his possibilities of being late for lunch. _

_Wednesdays were always his lackluster days, filled with next to none excitement; he had mostly double periods and left him with the four classes of Art, Chemistry, Math and PE. Having just finished attempting to draw still life for more than an hour and then working out various angles and degree with his protractor, Echo was thankfully looking forward to the PE lesson at the end of the day. Chemistry was interesting because they got to look at the organic chemistry for the first time and the science behind it was actually kind of interesting; sure, it was just a sneak-peek for now for his final year but it was still something to look forward to. _

_He was actually looking forward to meeting up with his friend Ian Radcliff this lunch. Ian was the only real friend that he had made, despite them being close to visual opposites. While Echo was in the process of showing the he in the early stages of having well developed body and carefully toned muscles from many hours in the dojo, Ian was more so of a slender build and shorter stature. He actually came up to the orphan's chest and was a little more than half his friend's build, his long, almost spider-like, fingers were as smooth as the day he was born with them. While Echo often cam dressed in jeans, t-shirts and a hooded sweatshirt, Ian was much more presentable in his beige pants, polo shirts and sweaters; it wasn't that he felt he was better than his friends or peers, it was just his preference of dressing attire. Even the sun kissed bronze skin that the orphan naturally seemed to retain was in opposition to the sweet milk chocolate brown that Ian was given._

_But what he lacked in physical strength and relaxed clothes, he made up with his vast and fierce intelligence. Ian was easily far smarter than Echo, probably a vast majority of the school as well, and just understood things that made the orphan's head spin so fast, that he felt he would pass out. He could read and retain information like a computer, generate equations that teachers were yet to introduce and he just seemed to get bored in the classes that he was put into. He could have gone up a grade or to but he preferred to just take him time in high school; he told Echo later that it was a great time to read and learn things that would help in University, so he was going to enjoy it as much as possible. _

_How that the orphan martial art prodigy and the young intellectual genius came to be close friends? Well, it was during an English class in the school library and they both were reading books by Stephen King and following along his Dark Tower series at different paces, Ian engrossed in The Gunslinger and Echo intently reading The Wastelands. The reserved young man happened to note how much his reading buddy was enjoying the book and after class, told he would enjoy the next book in the series. This sparked a long and lengthy discussion between the two of them about other King books they had read. Over their first year in high school, they just fell in pace as friends as they discovered similar interests and their close bond was there for formed._

_In fact, today was because of a similar interest they both happened to have; scale models. Ian had gotten a small model of a fantasy beast or some such from a cousin and they two of them had spent hours painting and constructing the small being, both of them adding snippets to their collective story they had in their minds. While Echo may not have been very found of art classes, he did find that the acute attention to detail that was needed for the painting was exquisite and the sheer imagery that was created was beauty beyond imagination. Ian had gotten a magazine with several model kits that were available in the world but not in their city, so they would need to order in more exotic kits if they wanted to build them. This lunch they were going to look at which model kit they would want to get between the two of them; Echo had a certain fondness for the dragons and phoenixes while Ian tended to favor more chaotic beings and woodland animals._

_Echo blinked a few times when he saw several people gathering around some lockers and he felt a slight unease when he saw that it was where Ian's locker was. He stilled himself in the groups of kids as he tried to see what was going on. When he saw that Ian was up against his locker and the beefy front linesman of their high school football team was holding him there, pinning him there like a collector does with his favorite butterflies. He could see another jock had his friend's backpack and only one other was there, leaning against the lockers as if he dared somebody to challenge his teammate in what he was doing._

"_So, think about reconsidering yet? Huh, ya scrawny, little weasel?" The overbuilt teen snarled at the less built boy between his hands, Echo subconsciously noting the athlete's number as thirty two. _

"_No! I'm not going to subject myself to your abuse anymore!" Ian said firmly, the reserved orphan nodding proudly at his friend's resolve. Sure, he wasn't exactly meeting the bully's eyes and he was fidgeting a lot, but at least he was taking a stand for himself. "I'm not going to get you grades that you don't deserve!"_

"_Don't deserve? I'm on the football team, you fucking imbecile!" The jock was not endearing himself to any goodness that may have come from Tobias. "I got better things to do that work on lame-ass paper from these half-wit teachers! That's the only reason you worthless brain-heads are in this school, to make sure that useful people like us pass these worthless classes."_

_And with that statement, which had already set Echo into a simmering anger, the jock went and put the final nail in his coffin. Because he had no respect for his fellow peers and treated them like objects that were just there to facilitate him passing through school, not even bothering to think that there was some other kind of life outside of his brutish sport. What was even more, this guys and his two friends were seniors, so their actions were completely uncalled for._

_Number 32 scoffed and dropped Ian to his feet, swatting him across his face in what Echo would have called a half hearted slap. The young boy staggered under the unexpected blow and his glasses fell from his face, hitting the locker and sliding from the confrontation. "Just get your act together and stop trying to be more than a little bitch."_

_And Echo's pot of simmer anger boiled over in burning rage, shoving past those in front of him and dropping his backpack behind him as he went. _

_The one jock that was leaning against the wall saw the furious entrance by the orphan and moved to put a stop to what this silly second year may have in his head. While the jock though that puffing up his chest and maybe shoving around would intimidate this new arrival to their game, he was woefully unprepared for what came next. Because as he squared up roughly two feet away from Echo, the young martial artist, not even coming up on his ninth year of training, had just finished placing his right foot on the ground and had begun to pick up his left foot to step forward._

_Without even needing the thought or command to do so, Echo's leg pulled up between him and his opponent bent and then shot forward, the balls of his toes striking the jock just bellow his first set of abdominal muscles while his heel followed suit around his lower abdominals. This was before pushing him back as the leg finished extending and slamming his back against the lockers he had been so casually leaning on. The other boy was lucky to have had such a well developed core, because the blow pushed all the air out of him and he curled over against the metal containers and he was left gasping for air._

_If he had been in any less shape, the blow could have had some serious side effects but the enraged Echo had made sure not to put all his strength into the attack. This wasn't a fight for his life, he didn't want to incapacitate these guys for life or over do it. He just wanted to give them what they dishing out._

_The one who had Ian's backpack and had been rummaging through his stuff, who had the numbers fifty seven embroidered on his jacket sleeve, threw the open book bag at Echo's face. Echo dropped under the cheap shot and saw that the jock had decided to charge him, the reserved man pivoting back as he side stepped the rampaging jock. As he did so, he dropped down on his right leg and let his left leg sweep out and wide as he spun around on the floor with surprising speed as he kept his chest close to his bent knee, guiding his body around with his hands. _

_His heel caught one of the boy's ankles and knocked it so far behind his other leg, that both his feet shot out from under his body. Number 57 had to watch his legs rise up as his back collided with the floor, the young fighter already turning to face the main source of his anger, Number 23. He had apparently caught on to the fighting after his first friend hit the lockers and then his second friend the ground, deciding that he would try to be smart about fighting this new weird kid. He lunged out and managed to grab Echo's hand but wasn't expecting the young man to grab his wrist in return for the grab. He actually met the reserved orphan's face, his piercing green eyes and tightened face an unexpected sight for him. _

_Echo, however, needed no such pause of surprise and continued on with his counter to this poor attempt at grappling. If Abby had seen such a pitiful effort, she would have taken over for Echo to show the jock how it was really suppose to be done. But since she was not here, the orphan went ahead with his own plan; his right hand was holding the jock's wrist, so he brought his right elbow down on other student's forearm and pushed down to pull him inwards as he leaned forward. Twisting and jerking his trapped limb, his left hand broke the unprepared grip and he brought his left elbow up to strike Number 23 across the face. _

_The poor jock was thrown in even more disarray and Echo gave a small hop as he changed feet, pulling his arms away and drawing his hands near his chest. As soon as his feet landed, both of his hand unfurled and caught the jock on the chest with open palms; the double blow sent him stumbling back until he tripped over himself and crashed on the floor. _

_A flicker of movement from the corner of Echo's right eye caught his attention, stepping back as a fist swung in a great gaping arc. Number 57 was more diligent that Echo had given him credit for and as he saw another hook coming in on his left side, grimly thought of an appropriate way to show his admiration for the jock's attempted efforts. _

_He went with the blow, his upper body swinging around and down to his right side as he took a slight step with left leg and pivoted around as he pushed weight atop of his left leg. The right leg curled up, came around and the flat of his foot slammed along the right side of the jock's face in what some people could have called an amazing hook kick and others would have called an awesome "bitch slap-kick". The poor jock went with his foot all the way to the ground and lay there, prone and prostrated, on the floor while Echo stepped back with both hands raised, open and held at chest height in a loose, open stance._

_Those other students, the ones who had so casually watch Echo's friend being so cruelly tormented, now stared at the orphan, hushed whispers filling the air as the young man walked over to his friend. He stopped short of Ian and knelt down to pick up his friend's glasses, Echo looking up at him with worry as he handed his friend his glasses back._

"_Sorry I wasn't here sooner, Ian." Was all he said and Ian, speechless from his friend's aggressive defense for him, knew there was nothing appropriate to say…

* * *

_

"…and they agreed to not expel me since there were so many people there willing to support Ian's and my story about what happened. I was also a really good student and up till then, I had not had any complaints against me." Echo concluded, watching the contemplative and brow creased look on General Hawk's face carefully. "So, I was suspended for a week and I had to give a written apology to each of the guys I had knocked around."

The general leaned back in his chair and tapped his finger to his lips sagely, the rest of his hand rest on the side of his face as he silently thought. He was clearly carefully sifting through the details that Echo had enlightened him to and the young man could only wait till the older man had decided how to take this new information about the prospective soldier before him.

The person that Echo was really worried about was the silent ninja standing behind him. He wasn't sure just how much about his history his new master had been briefed on and he didn't want his new teacher, who had taken so many measures to take him under his wing. He was aware now of how dangerous some of those moves had how lucky his opponent had been that they had not faced the man he was now and that they had been able to take such an abusive beating. If Echo was now put in the same situation to do the same moves, he actually couldn't guarantee the safety of his classmates.

But he honestly couldn't say that he would have done anything different. Ian was his only friend at the time and he still was Echo's best friend, despite the fact that he was now miles away from home and attending MIT while the orphan was now being interviewed for the army. He could have almost guaranteed that if Ian was in danger or that his friend needed his help that direly, he would have crossed over hell and high water to rescue him.

He resisted, almost over-consciously and painfully so, to not sigh and slouch in his chair and remained sitting straight up. Now that he actually gave it some thought, the fight with Simon and the incident in school with the bullies had all be a result of anger at their mistreatment of others. Maybe that was why he really like physical meditation that was taught through martial arts; to release your anger and frustrations through the physical arts of unarmed combat so that your mind was clear and calm for those around you. He loved what he had learned and the physical abilities he now had were amazing, but the sheer mental aspect of the arts that he had been trained in was absolutely stunning and extremely versatile for his personal use.

Just like what he was doing right now.

Master Dogen had called it Breathing With Eyes, where you relax your senses and visually observe the world ever so carefully while displaying an appearance and sense of mind of absolute tranquility. It was supposed to be a method that could allow you to spot a change in your environment that your enemy made or to notice a crucial weakness in an opponent that was coming for you. But it was great in situations like this because he could now take in the general's office, though it was despairing sparse of any emotional connection, while making sure he didn't miss the general call for his attention.

"Did you regret your actions?" General Hawk asked and Echo felt his face contract slightly as he thought. He knew that he had to answer this question appropriately, so he decided with just saying what he felt.

"I regret that I had to injure three boys that were in no way prepared for what I was about to do." Echo said evenly, pausing slightly and then continued speaking without noticing that the general was about to speak. "I do not regret coming to the aide of my friend or responding physically to their abuse."

The older man raised a brow at this and nodded, looking back to the folder. He must have decided that reading aloud the boy's records would be a good choice to summarize his character. "Yes, your martial art talents are repeatedly mentioned in your documents. A student in the arts from the age of eight, your focus was majorly in two styles called Wushu and Ha…Ha…"

"Hapkido, Sir." Echo gently offered and the older man, surprisingly, nodded.

"You have received your second degree black belt in Hapkido at the age of eighteen and you have received a black sash, something similar to a black belt I assume, in Wushu." Echo just wondered how the general and his men could have gotten all this information on him. He knew that a lot of it could have come from documents in his school and dojo, but those were still legal documents; maybe legal inquires with the military reached further than he ever suspected. "You have competed in a interstate competition known as the Extreme Martial Arts Tournament, where you placed first place in sparring and second place in your forms, though it was due to a minor technicality. You've taken up Ninjutsu studies in the past three years due to a teacher's recommendation." General Hawk looked up at Echo with a very passive gaze and raised his brows together. "Sounds about right so far?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I understand that you also go by a nickname more so than your real name." General Hawk stated as he rested his portfolio down and laced his fingers over his desk. "Echo, I believe it is? Why would you have such a nickname?"

Echo shrugged and glanced to the side. "It kind of goes back to my earliest days at the orphanage, sir. I was slower in my younger years and I would just repeat things that were said to me and do things exactly as I had been shown. Like I was a robot following orders or…" Echo paused and glanced up. "Like a I was an echo everyone around me."

"You must have hated the name then."

"Not really, it could have been a lot worse of a name, and I realized I could live up to the name in other ways. I could focus and recreate an action or sentence that said around me, gradually strengthening my memory and ability to recall thoughts." Echo explained, his tone never racing or fumbling, just calmly and quietly speaking as he explained a small portion of his past.

"Interesting…." The general trailed off before sighing and leaned more forward to the young man. "Look, I'll be honest here, kid. You have some impressive talents and skills on your hands that would make you ideal for us. Your physical prowess is developed to a rare level for entry soldiers and you've managed to match your intelligence with your fighting abilities. You just so happen to lack any previous military training."

"Oh, that does make me a bit of a liability to my coworkers and teammates." Echo said, his shoulders slumping slightly in a silently defeat. "What does that mean for me?"

"What that means is, you're going to have to put in double the time and effort of the Joes here." Hawk said sharply, Echo blinking in misunderstanding and the general willingly elaborated. "Each man and woman here has earned their place and rank here, mostly by what has been done on the battle field. You have no such experience so you are literally going to have to train with us to be a Joe from jump."

"Seriously?" Echo said in disbelief, looking at Snake Eyes for the first time since entering the room before turning back to Hawk. "You're really going to give me a chance?"

General Hawk lowered his gaze on the boy, the younger man's tone obviously misread by the older gentleman. "This is going to be no easy task, young man. You will probably be pushed physically farther than anything you've been before and you must pass the required ballistics tests, tactician courses, combat simulations and various training course based upon what specialty you would get assigned to. A good guess will be something like close quarter, infiltration or even advance scouting might something good for you." The general suddenly seemed to appear as grave as the dead, making Echo feel uncertain. "Make no mistake; this will not be like anything else that you've endured or experienced before."

Echo felt his eyes drop slightly; so, that was the reason for his tone. "You think I'm going to treat this as a game?"

"This is just a very serious organization, Tobias." Hawk began to speak but he stopped when he saw Echo nodding.

"I understand that, I really do." Echo said, seeing his words assuring the General. "I know that this entire place only accepts the best, so I know every action I'm going to do is going to be under the microscope. I can't relax or loosen up even for moment because if I do and screw up, not only would I be a hindrance and danger to my teammates, I would be an insult to every single teacher that I've ever had, even my new master." Echo smiled softly and gave the much older man a questioning look. "Do you think I'm not aware of the hardships that are laid before me or that I could very well suffer a significant amount of pain and loss?"

General Hawk had the grace to ponder the question and think on his answer before giving it. "I'm just wondering if you really gave it a lot of thought." Hawk said gently. "Many people that have joined have dropped out."

"I did, and I feel that I have to try and move forward somehow and this may be the best choice. I know life sucks, treats us all like crap and we still have to get up and deal with it. I got that realization slapped in face when I was kid and realized just what it meant to be an orphan. No one lets me forget that and I busted my ass to get all that I have now, so I know what hard work is even when no has faith in your skills." Echo sighed and straightened his posture from the slouch he had been about to fall into. "I have thought about the dangers and the losses, but I still want to go through with this. Besides, I'm good at fighting and this will at least put those years of training to good use."

The other men in the room were silent as Echo finished, the young fighter able to sense Snake Eyes shifting his weight as he waited and saw General Hawk rubbing his lips lightly in thought. Most of what the orphan had been out of line in a small way but Echo felt that it was the best way to convey his point across. He was aware the armed forces and their Special Forces sectors were above par of anything that normal civilians could handle, so by proxy the Joes had to be just that more above the bar in terms of training. By his rough amount of knowledge from what Snake Eyes and Sergeant Wayne had said about the unit, there was no one else on earth that should be able to even come close to their standard of skills.

So he was more than aware that he should have been the last person to be even considered for the team. All he had a scary prowess in the martial arts, gymnastics talents and urban combat and defense skills.  
Echo also knew what he wasn't; he wasn't a soldier, he wasn't a computer genius, he wasn't a role model civilian and he wasn't the kid of person that landed these kind of positions. For Christ's sake, he was just some orphan kid who failed to make the cut for a state college and a punk with some potentially serious anger problems. Maybe Snake Eyes made the wrong choice in offering him a place in the Joes, but wouldn't doubt his new teacher just yet even though the odds were against them. He would be a respectful student and wait for the outcome of General Hawk's thinking before he would make any rash decisions.

"Tobias, I'm going to agree to let you join us on a probationary status, as a trainee." General Hawk said suddenly, Echo confused by what the older man had meant and since he must have shown his lack of understanding, the General continued. "Your probationary status means that your time here will be with a veteran of GI Joe, to help guide you through the training and to help you achieve the necessary requirements. In all likelihood, this will be a task done by Snake Eyes since he recommended you and you are here to train under him."

Echo nodded, still a little stunned at being accepted into something so big as this operation. It was actually dizzying and making Echo slightly light headed. "Thank you, sir."

General Hawk smiled for the first time and stood up, Echo standing when he saw the older man had outstretched his hand to him. The young man gingerly stood and took the hand tentatively but firmly. "Welcome to GI Joe, Tobias. Snake Eyes will help you get settled and help you get your required uniforms for training. Dismissed, soldier."

Echo's face spread into a rare full smile and he nodded. "Yes, sir." He said with a short bow of his head and looked to Snake Eyes. The silent man sent him a concealed thumb up and tilted his head to the door, the young man understanding.

He released the general's hand and grabbed his bag from underneath his chair, following after his silent master as they exited the room.

* * *

Food in the Joe's mess hall was generally pretty good, well balanced and well cooked so that the troops would actually enjoy eating the necessary nutrition need for their every day life. And due to the staggered shifts and routines, there was always a somewhat steady stream of soldiers in the Mess Hall between eleven o'clock and two.

When Echo and Snake Eyes entered the Mess Hall shortly after putting the newcomer's stuff in his room, they arrived to a sparse dining hall with a few soldiers around enjoying some breathing space and a well deserved meal. Most of the food that was left was salads and sandwiches, which Echo was utterly fine with; he was more of a meat and potatoes kind of guy but he really wasn't that picky since choice was never really an option of what there was to eat.

The ninja master gestured for the young man to go and get himself some food, Echo nodding his understanding as he walked over the food that were left out on trays. He greeted the kitchen staff that was still on duty politely and after learning what on the menu, he collected a couple of beef sandwiches and a small helping of salad. He was used to eating small amounts, so this was pretty much perfect for him; a nice balance of proteins, vegetables and starch to reenergize the body and fuel him for…well, whatever these Joes were going to get him to do next. Taking his tray, he turned away from stations of food and scanned the mess hall, quickly finding his darkly dressed teacher sitting alone at a rather large table.

The young man headed over to his teacher, a soldier standing up in his path without noticing the young man and turned right into him. Shifting the tray in his hands so that he had his right hand in the center of the tray, Echo hooked his left foot around his own right foot and pushed his left toes into the ground which caused his leg to straighten. As his leg straightened, his body uncoiled around the older soldier and, with his back to the man, he took a quick side step; bringing his right foot next to his left, he sent the left foot out again. His right foot then swept forward and he continued walking forward, the soldier blinking as he looked back at the orphan who had literally danced around him without half a thought.

He rested his tray down and pulled the chair out, setting himself down as he rolled up his sleeves. Snake Eyes had rolled the bottom of his mask up and was sipping on some water, almost watching as the boy eased into eating. The silent ninja master took out his notepad and while still sipping the bottle of Evian, wrote something out for his student. Echo glanced at the black visor of his new master and looked at the pad of paper when he slid it over to him, his dark emerald scanning over the written words.

_I know this may be a little inappropriate to ask you, as we still don't know each other that well, but I was wondering about something that General Hawk said in his office._

_You have never tired to find out who your parents are? Why is that?_

Echo shrugged as he read the question, resting his beef sandwich down as finished his mouthful. It was a fair enough question and one that he got asked frequently, more so than people would imagine. He wiped the back of his mouth and sighed as he tried to explain the feeling he had in his chest when ever he thought about his parents.

"Master, in all honesty, I don't think I could keep myself in check if I were to ever meet them." He answered truthfully, folding his hand I on the table in front of him. "As I'm sure you heard, I was left outside, in the pouring rain with nothing more than a paper thin blanket on, and only because Father was woken by my weak cries did he find me." Echo closed his eyes and felt his the corners of his lips curl up, whether in a sneer or to snarl, he never knew. "Why should I want to find the people that not only didn't want, but could be bothered to try and treat me like a human?"

Snake Eyes's exposed mouth showed the flexing muscles as he shifted from shock to regret. He drew his pad of paper back and wrote quickly, the young man dropping his gaze as he thought about his feeling towards his parents.

He really couldn't care less if they were still alive and if they were, he hoped that they never tried to track him down as long as he lived. He had nothing to say to them and desired nothing from them, not even to ask them why he had been so callously tossed away by his real family. Did they look into his eyes and see that he was going to grow up into a fighting prodigy? Was he an accident child and the woman's parents force her to give him up? Was he the result of an affair? He didn't care.

It had no bearing on his current life and the likelihood of him ever meeting even on of his parents was stacked so ridiculously in opposition, he could peacefully live his life without the threat of them finding him. And if they did, he had some choice words for his mother, words intending to cut her down to her soul, and a good solid right hook for his father, one he hoped would loosen a few molars or break his jaw.

He heard the pad of paper sliding over to him and glanced over at the written words, his body slouching slightly. His eyes grew in size as he read was written on the paper, glancing up sharply at his teacher and then back to the pad to make sure he hadn't misread.

_I'm sorry I brought up such harsh memories._

_I was only asking because I was too orphaned at a young age, though I was unfortunate enough to witness their demise._

_I can sympathize as to why you might miss them but I can also understand your anger, now hearing your side of things._

"Snakes….I'm sorry." Echo wanted to say more, wishing he had been more considerate, but the mute man shrugged. The young man stared at his food and scoffed lightly, not meeting his teacher's gaze when he looked at the new student. "It's strange, you know? I never really talked about my parents to anyone because I never thought that would accept my reason for not wanting to see them and most of the other orphans were so eager to be adopted but I wasn't."

The young fighter looked at the seasoned ninja soldier and saw the masked face was tiled to the side, Echo shrugged. "They were looking for something that they either lost or dreamed about finally having. I had a family, in the orphanage and in the dojo, so I never really saw the need to try and find a new one that I would have to struggle to fit into."

Echo picked up his sandwich and took another wolfing bit, savoring the slight hints of honey mustard. He sighed slightly and moved his salad around unenthusiastically; he really had to learn to not just open his mouth and say what he wanted. But on the other had, he wasn't one to lie or cheat his words away because of some social inappropriateness. Snake Eyes had asked him a question and he answered his new master with the truth he deserved.

Echo was thinking of saying something else when he heard the doors open up again, his eyes instinctive looking over and he blinked when one of the newcomers called out to his master. "Yo, Snake Eyes! So, this is where you're hiding, huh?"

The man that was speaking was a halfway in the door, apparently calling to some other as to the whereabouts of their ninja companion. He was a fit individual, even if the military uniform made him look very slender, and he had a startling similar appearance to Ian. He shook off the similarity as his master shook his head in what he guessed was amusement and watched as three others came into the room.

One person that caught his attention was the biggest person of the group, his broad shoulders and deep black skin. He had one of the most serious faces on that Echo had ever seen in his short span upon the earth, his deep set eye half lidded in what Echo could have only interrupted as bored. The other two guys that walked with him, including the one that poked his head in, were both shorter than him and slimmer than him. The man with a more pale tone to his skin almost had this lazy look to his face, while his light brown, like a fusion of caramel and dark brown, friend looked a little more playful and cheerful.

The forth person was a very striking redhead, her cool gaze matched by her precise and professional stride, although he could see she wanted to be smiling at something. And because of her looks to his master and to her dark skinned friend, Echo wondered what had happened between the three of them at one point. In comparison to Echo, he had to be a shade shorter than the two guys but he was at least around the same build as them. That made him feel a little more confident about his chances of fitting in the elite military base, even in comparison to the much larger and beefier soldier that accompanied them.

"Hey Snakes, whose your friend?" The one that called out to him was the first one to speak to him and the silent ninja master flashed through some sign language but it wasn't to his new student or the man who had asked him the question. The one who was really paying attention was the redhead, whose eyes followed his fingers every sweep and gesture.

Her green eyes widened and she looked at Echo in surprise and he suddenly felt very small. He was getting that look from everyone who found out that he was the apprentice of Snake Eyes and he was being to feel very worried by that said reaction. Either that meant he was in for a world of pain and exhaustion like no other or they were expecting him to be just as much of a monster of martial art skills as his new master was. She nodded and glanced at her dark skinned friend with a surprised and mystifying grin.

"Apparently, this young man right here is Echo, Snake Eyes's new apprentice." She intoned that this was a special occurrence and Echo really didn't understand why this was so out of the usual.

But the reactions around the table made him realize that this was pretty startling for the members of his master's team and that it wasn't an everyday occurrence. The bigger built man seemed to loose control of his eyes as they grew much larger and he set himself back to size up the younger man, clearly trying to get a gauge of his strength from what he could see. The slimmer black man's jaw dropped down and hung in the wind like a lofty flag on a dull day, unable to lift itself up even if it tried. The pale man also took a moment to looked over Echo but he seemed more impressed than shocked, which was also a little bit more welcoming that the following comments from his companions.

"This boy, seriously, Snakes?" The large man's British accent perked Echo's interests and he made a not of it to ask about it later. "He must be some force if you're taking someone as young as him under your wing."

"Seriously, he must be like the super ninja baby." The skinner black man said, making an exaggerated chopping motion in the air and made an amusing imitation of what he thought was a Kung Fu ki-up. "Boy's gotta be bad as Bruce Lee to be your apprentice, Snakes."

"Well, if he ain't already, Rip, then he's goanna be once Snakes is done with him." The other guy said in admiration, Echo fighting the urge to gulp at the expectations that were piling up. "What's your name anyway, kid?"

"Um, Tobias, but I'm used to being called Echo more so." The quiet young adult said, the vibrant redhead nodding and rested her hand on the skinner black man.

"Well, Echo, my name is Shana O'Hara, or Scarlett as I go by in the field." The woman politely introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. O'Hara." Echo respectively greeted, nodding his head to her politely before he looked to the skinny black man as he looked ready to being introducing himself.

"S'actly, that's my girl." The man said with a nudge to Scarlett, who seemed a little embarrassed, and touched, by the attention. The man then stood up a little straighter and held his hand out, pretty much inches from Echo's face. "I'm Wally Weems, but just call me Ripcord, alright?"

Echo nodded with a thick grin, grasping Ripcord's hand shaking firmly. "Nice to meet you, man."

"This hansom devil right here is my brother from another mother, Conrad Hauser but we prefer to call him Duke; you know, sounds a little better." Ripcord said as he patted his friend on the shoulder. The aforementioned Duke scoffed and gave his buddy a shove in the side as the slender black man then gestured to the larger man. "And this is…" He was about to say the man's real name when a particularly dark glare made him reconsider. "…is Heavy Duty! Yeah, Heavy Duty. Man, the weapons that this mean mother can use…"

Echo's laugh escaped him and he nodded to the introducer of the team. "It's nice to meet you all. I look forward to learning from you when I have the chance."

"Yeah, you ever got a question, feel free to ask us, man." Duke offered, pointing back and forth between Ripcord and himself. "Between the two of us, we can guarantee that any and all help is a blessing."

"Cool, thanks."

"Hey, I got a quick question for you, kid." Heavy Duty spoke up, Echo missing how long it had been since the man had spoken. "I know you've gotten the hand to hand combat sorted out, but are you familiar with any weapons?"

Echo furrowed his brow and then quirked a brow in. "I'm going to take a guess and say you're talking about firearms, right?" As the bobble motion of the man's head as he nodded, Echo returned his gesture with the wagging motion of a shake. "No, I've trained with a few martial art weapons but no guns. I guess its something I'm goanna be learning."

The large man was about to continue with something when Echo felt a hand touch his shoulder, the reserved young man's gaze meeting the glossy visor of his new master. Snake Eyes pointed over his shoulder with his thumb and Echo understood, it was tiem for him to finish the grand tour of the base. With a polite goodbye, Echo collected his tray and followed his master from the hall. As they walked out, the quiet young man couldn't help but notice that Scarlett, despite the attention that Ripcord showered her with, casted a longing glance to the masked soldier and his master did all that he could to not look at her.

Echo sighed, feeling that things with the Joes was going to be complicated.

* * *

Echo was kneeling on the floor in the training room, hands folded in his lap and his back straight as he slowly let his eyes fall shut. His training gi was the oldest one of three he owned but the red belt he had wrapped around his waist was something he had just received from Master Dogen before he left the Dojo. He said it was the rank that he had earned during his three year education under the elder ninja master, the young man accepting it with shaking hands.

But he wasn't here today to reflect on his achievements with Master Dogen. This was going to be his first lesson with Snake Eyes, his new instructor in the sacred arts of Ninjutsu and his drill sergeant for his military training. The young man took in a breath, filling his lungs fully with air completely and then released it slowly and smoothly.

Now wasn't the time to think, now was the time to focus and center one's self. So the young man cast aside his worries, thoughts, questions and let himself center.

Breathe in slowly, let the air fill you…

Focus the mind…

Breathe out slowly, release the air from you….

Cleanse your mind….

Breathe in….

Concentrate, the mind and body as one…

Breathe out…

Achieve tranquility through movement…

Breathe in…

Mind and body as one…

Breathe out….

The doors to the room opened and Echo slowly opened his eyes, glancing over his shoulder to see his master and the redhead, Scarlett he vaguely recalled being her name, walking in. He turned his head back and bowed, clearing the meditative mantra from his mind as he stood. He straightened his gi and turned to his two seniors, his eager emerald eyes gleaming with a hunger for knowledge.

He bowed formally to his two seniors and when they has risen from their bows, he too straightened up. He then noticed that Snake Eyes was carrying two bokkens and that Scarlett was dressed different from her military outfit; she had a pale blue tank top on and some black tracksuit pants, her bare feet flexing on the bare floor. Echo nodded to her, the woman returning the bow as she pulled her hair into a tight bun on the back of her head. Snake Eyes waited for her to finish before handing a wooden sword to each of them, his hands fluidly moving when his agile digits were free again.

Once he was finished signing, Scarlett vocalized his instructions. "Until you get a firm grasp of sign language I will be assisting Snakes in teaching you, acting as a translator for you two. So this means I will also be helping demonstrating moves as well." She explained and Echo nodded offhandedly, the whole statement making sense to him. After receiving a nod from the ninja master, Scarlett continued with her instructions. "Snakes would like us to start with a sparring match. This is so he can grasp where you are with your swordsmanship and what your comfortable with. Okay?"

"Yeah, that doesn't sound too bad." Echo nodded more assertively, dropping his shoulders back and then set his mind into the state of sparring.

Echo exhaled slowly and shifted his weight as he eyed up his opponent. Scarlett and he took a few steps back and then bowed to their overseeing master, then turning to each other and respectively bowing. For some reason, he wasn't all that surprised that Snake Eyes used this training method and considering that Dogen used it frequently while he studied under him. It was free sparring with weapons, with the objective of bringing the weapon as close to a kill position as possible for the win. It definitely taught you how to handle the weapons quickly and you over came your skittish nature when confronted by a weapon, though it could be overwhelming for those not expecting it.

He did wonder if Dogen had suggested this training to Snake Eyes or if it was just a standard practice of Ninjutsu. Mind you, it was possible that Snake Eyes had trained under Dogen and therefore he had learnt it from the older man via experience. Still, Echo did wish that they had started with something like a staff or even kali sticks just cause of how he felt about the wooden replica in his hands

Traditionally, the bokken, or the katana that it represented, was a weapon that required a startling amount of training to use effective and respectively. It was widely considered the perfect sword, the design of the weapon and serrated edge perfect for nothing but cutting through muscles and bones. It was not a weapon that he really used, often preferring the weapons used in Wushu because he had used them more than the weapons associated with Ninjutsu, because their was little defensive use in it. But Dogen had taught him several weapons over his three year tenure under the wise man and slowly taught him to use offensive weapons defensive.

Regardless, the katana was still a weapon that was still new to Echo and often resorted to using techniques used with the Dao, the Chinese Broadsword.

Echo caught his master raising his hand out of the corner of his green eyes, coiling and preparing his muscles for what Scarlett may come and cleared his mind of such scattered thoughts. With the fall of the hand, the match began.

Scarlett, who he supposed had been looking him over for a weakness, shifted slightly and stepped out to the side, keeping the tip raised to his eyes level. Echo match her movements as they circled each other, the redheaded woman shifting the sword to right side and held by her chest as they began to close the gap. Echo chose to take a different stance, lowering the wooden sword past his right leg and kept the back of the bald facing her.

Her strike was shown before she did it, her shoulders telegraphing her every move as though she had a tickertape above her head. The tip of her sword dipped back slightly, her hands shifting their grip before Scarlett brought the wooden blade around tried to cut down on Echo's shoulder. As his opponent's attack came down, he brought his defense up; swinging the sword up across his body, the back of the wooden blade cracked against the other sword.

Her face pinched into a grimaced as her sword was swatted aside and then fell into a blank surprise as his weapon circled around his head in smooth succession from his block. She then gasped sharply as the young man attacked her left side with an overhead strike and Scarlett heard a loud smash as his sword impacted heavily on the floor, the reserved fighter calmly kneeling following her as she finished backing away.

He stood up and took a step forward at the same time, looking as though he had just floated onto his feet and the young man grunt as Scarlett blocked the cut to her shoulder by blocking her whole right side. Echo stepped back, pushing his left hand against the back of his bokken to reinforce his block and sunk down into his knees as Scarlet's sword slammed into his. The student pushed her back and brought his sword around, letting it swoop above his head before he drove it down in heavy slash; the redhead parried his blow to the side, sweeping up underneath his sword to his exposed ribs.

Echo sucked his breath in as he pivoted around, putting his back against her chest and avoided the swipe to his torso. Dropping his arm down and pulling his elbow to his side, Scarlet swore in her grunt as he trapped her sword and arm. Grabbing her wrist, swinging his wooden sword around until it was under hers and stepping forward, Echo gave a sharp twist with his torso and threw the unsuspecting woman to the floor.

Scarlet's legs and hips hit the ground first and her right arm was suspended in Echo's arm, thus preventing her from attacking with the sword. This, however, also meant that Echo couldn't attack her with his weapon until he released his grip on her or shifted his position to a superior hold. The young man started to shift his position but something collided with the side of his head and he felt himself start to sprawl, taking a roll to the side to go with the force to lessen the damage down. Resting in a kneeling stance with the sword held straight in front of him, he realized that Scarlet had struck him with a kick as she pivoted her hips around and seemed to stand up with a gifted elegance.

Echo stood slowly and shifted his weight as he watched this woman carefully. It was very clear that Snake Eyes either had taken up her teachings or was her most frequent sparring partner; he knew that this also meant that she was intimately familiar with Ninjutsu and probably most of the Japanese sword techniques. He gnawed on his lower lip as he edged closer, letting the sword spin around him, and wondered how he was going to outmaneuver her.

And then, as he swept the sword around him in a flowery set of spins, he had an idea. She was used to fighting against his new master, a master of Japan's elite martial art and weapons…and that had nothing to do with Wushu or the Chinese weapons. Echo felt himself smiling and drew himself into a closer stance, lowering his arms slowly. His foot stance was now much closer, with his front foot raised up onto the balls of his foot, and his sword hand was by his hip with the free hand held at his chest.

The confused look on Scarlet was what he wanted and when she paused, he acted. Pushing with his back foot so he was lunging forward, he used his front foot to rocket forward at the woman. His sword arm had wrapped over to his other side as he made his move forward and then the blade arced out in front of him as his opponent's chest as he flew across the empty space. Scarlet, not excepting such an exuberant and flashy attack from the young Ninjutsu student, quickly brought the sword up to guard against the unorthodox attack and took a few steps back. As his sword collided with hers, Echo let his head and shoulders drop towards the floor, dropping into a roll that kept them close.

Scarlet decided to not let this youngster, whom she had underestimated just now, to gain any more ground on her and brought her sword in on an overhead strike, the wooden sword whooshing through the air. As he came around onto his feet and looked up at his sparring partner, Echo switch his grip from the standard forward grip to a reverse grip. Standing up and sweeping the sword up in front of his body, the young man blocked her strike with little space from his head. Using the energy that had pushed him up from the ground, the young fighter pushed back against his senior's weapon and then pushed her back with a front kick.

His next strike was a diagonal cut from the hip to the shoulder, which she blocked skillfully, and he followed that up with a horizontal cut across the shoulders. That time Scarlet slipped back, trying to put distance between them but Echo had planned for that; his first step forward with a twist in his torso would have meant nothing to the average bystander, but it told Snake Eyes a world of knowledge about his new student.

As he took the second step, young fighter dipped his upper body down and threw himself sideways, putting such a torque in his hips that he spun across to his target. And with his sword held against his chest, the wooden blade looked a suspended fan blade on high speed as it approached Scarlet. The woman targeted side stepped hastily and the twister of force and wood just missed her, the young man snapping his legs out to land in a heavy horse stance. She lunged with a thrust to his stomach and Echo parried it to the side with side of his sword, the young man ducking under her follow up attack. His eyes never left her as he squatted down, rolling forward as she cut down at him and then, when he saw her sweeping at his legs from over his shoulders, he threw himself backwards in a flip.

He landed on one knee and stepped forward with a rising cut, Scarlet pivoting around and bringing her bokken over and down. Echo had but a split second to react and then they both froze.

Both their green eyes were glaring into each others, the wooden swords shaking as they held each other. Scarlett had her sword just above Echo's shoulder; roughly two inches from what would have sliced his arm clean from his body, the redhead had chosen a crule fate for the young fighter before her. The severance of his arm would mean that he could never practice sword work again and that his martial arts would be crippled forever.

Echo's sword was more horizontal, his wooden blade two inches away from his target as well but his was aimed for her neck. It would have been a clean cut and a merciful kill, no suffering involved at all at his hands. While his course was much more severe, it did show that he didn't want to leave his opponents to suffer.

The only thing that stopped their attacks was each other's attack and their crossed swords shaking as they pressed against each other. Scarlett looked like a wave trying to swallow up the young sparrow and Tobias looked like a coiled snake waiting to strike out against his aggressor.

A loud clapping sound echoed across the hall and Echo released his pressure first, trying off to the side as he backpedaled from Scarlett with his bokken resting against the back of his arm. The alluring soldier stumbled forward ever so slightly before she swept her sword around and stepped into a relaxed forward stance, her sword rest before her in a loose but prepared stance.

Snake Eyes approached them, Echo glancing to him and the master lifted his hand. He and Scarlett, almost in perfect synchronization, turned their bodies to the fully covered soldier and bowed respectively to him. Scarlett rose the fastest and Echo saw that it was because his master was signing at fluid pace, one that almost looked a bizarre kata of the deaf. When he was finished, he and Scarlett shared a nod and the fierce redhead turned to him; Echo wondered in the back of his mind just how well Abigail would get along with Shana and was a little worried at the possibilities.

"Snake Eyes is very impressed; you've shown that you are able to utilize your weapons training with your unarmed combat and that you can integrate your other martial arts into your style. You blend aggressive and defensive moves into your tactics and use the more flamboyant moves to catch your opponent off guard." Scarlett translated for Snake Eyes, Echo nodding along with her words as she went. "You are a bit too impulsive with your attacks and while you know the moves, you choose to rely on overwhelming your opponent with flashy advanced moves where basic moves would have also sufficed. Also, you hesitated initially to use unarmed techniques with your sword techniques."

"So it looks like I have a lot to learn." Echo said softly, pausing to reflect on what was said and then smiled at his two seniors. "I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can."

Snake Eye nodded in what Echo guessed to be a contented manner, touching Scarlett after a moment of hesitancy and sent her some quick signals. Scarlett smiled at him and handed him the wooden sword, the ninja master sweeping the sword around him as he moved into a more center position of the room. Echo watched him move briefly and then looked back to the crimson haired woman.

"Snakes is going to show you some sword forms that blend unarmed moves with armed moves and then he's going to go over some new moves specifically taught in Ninjutsu." Scarlett explained, gesturing for the younger man to join his new teacher. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need to take of something."

Echo nodded in understanding, then bowing to her. "Thank you, Scarlett-Sempai."

The older woman blinked and then returned the bow with a warm, although hesitant, smile. "Anytime, Echo-Kohai."

Echo then swept his sword around him and joined his master on the floor, assuming the same stance that his master had taken up.

* * *

Scarlett had to catch her breath before she left, watching as Snake Eyes lead the young man through a series of sword katas and the two slowly came into an eerie rhythm. Soon, they both were cutting, kicking, flipping and thrusting in time with each other as though they were a superimposed image of each other. But the redheaded soldier was thinking of something else, something that had really unsettled her while she was sparring her friend's new student.

She was used to the traditions of martial arts and the reasons behind sparring; she had faced many levels of fighters, ranging from the inexperience white belts, who were too nervous to punch, and the seasoned black belts, who often had multiple plans with multiple alternatives incase something went astray. The boy did deserve his black belt in his previous arts and he was clearly well suited for the position of a red belt in Ninjutsu, but it wasn't his skills. She knew that his skills were to be incredible if Snake Eyes wanted to take him under his wing as an apprentice and once the master martial artist was done, Echo would be even more terrifying.

No, it was the look in his eyes. It was the way his deep green eyes had stared deep into her eyes and lunged into her soul, his tightly drawn face cracked with his parted lips. She could tell if it was a smile, a grimace or a concentration because Scarlett had been unable to shake the look that his eyes gave.

She could only remember one time that anyone else's eyes had managed to startle her this much….

* * *

_Scarlett felt the haze of pain come to her as she regained her grasp on consciousness, her ears ringing as she started to sit up and look around. She hissed as a sharp pain shot up through her leg from her ankle, fairly positive that it was just a rolled joint and not a broken bone. The redhead gazed scoured the remains of the helicopter carefully, trying to piece together what had happened. She remembered something made the tail of the aircraft explode and they had begun spinning down to the ground._

_The crimson soldier cough as the smoke of the wreckage washed over her and she tried to remember who was with her in the helicopter. Heavy Duty had been across from her, because Sergeant Stone, who had been sitting to her right, had something funny and the large man had been chuckling deeply to himself. Then the suddenly jerk and they began spiraling downwards, Scarlett remembering being able to see the ground racing up towards her before everything blacked out._

"_Freeze!" _

_Scarlett stopped cold at the voice that cut through the ringing of her ears and she turned to the figures standing in front of her. The military fatigues looked well worn and dirty in the fire light, the symbol of Nigeria's flag emblazed on their shoulders. Their dark brown eyes met her green ones, her emerald eyes nearly glowing in the firelight._

_The Joes had been assigned to investigate a weapons shipment into South Africa and they discover that a rogue militia had acquired a massive cache of weapons. They had been ordered to pull out and regroup with the main forces before they decided to do anything direct. Scarlett shifted her weight but one of the man noticed her moving, a sing round shot by her foot._

"_Don't move!" He barked to her and she clenched her teeth, lifting her hands slowly in the air._

"_Who else is here with you?" The other man asked; Scarlett was about to answer when her eyes caught a flash over silver behind the men, a strange gleam from polished steel hovering in the air behind the soldiers and she vaguely realized it was a blade of some sorts._

_The blade, like a disembodied life form, swept around and whipped up in front of one fo the gunmen. The man with an itchy trigger finger suddenly fell to the ground scream, hunched over himself as his partner lurched to his right. However, it was too late and his head snapped back as gunshot rang out and fire flared from a handgun's muzzle._

_Scarlett then saw her rescuer, the small firearm, what looked to be a Heckler and Koch USP Tactical, in one hand and what she recognized as a Japanese katana sword in the other. The man's body was covered in a skin tight black material and his face was covered by a ski mask of sorts, even a visor covering his eyes. He swept his sword around him and sheathed it behind him as he looked to Scarlett, her immediately noticing that his visor was crack open and he reached up to rip off the glossy material._

_And that was the first time that Scarlett saw the eyes that belong to their most reserved squad member, Snake Eyes. She had heard that there was a new member to the team but this was something else entirely, despite the rumors surrounding the mysterious soldier. Rumors that he was part of an ancient order of ninja warriors, that he was the personal bodyguard and covert operative for General Hawk, that he never spoke a word…._

_But looking into those eyes, those piecing blue eyes, she what the rumors never justified. He was fighter and nothing else. The adrenaline was fading from his eyes, his breath slowing down and it seemed that what once were bright and electrifying eyes now appeared like a deep dull steel blue. The spirit, the resolution to commit to the act, the inner energy of the warrior; what ever you called it, it had faded from his eyes._

_He's free hand pointed to her and shifted his hand up and down, slowly moving to a thumbs up position. She blinked, her mind instinctive noticing the toned and dumb down version of ASL. She nodded and he suddenly swept away, moving like a shadow past her to the large form of Heavy Duty. Her mind suddenly remembered where she was, scouting the area for Sergeant Stone and planning an rendezvous plan to meet up with their main forces….

* * *

_

The redhead shook herself and turned her self away as Snake Eyes moved his student's arms into the correction position, walking smoothly out of the gymnasium. Snake Eyes and Echo, both with those soul piecing and haunting eyes, would haunt her forever with that burning gaze of combat. She felt a shiver come over her, knowing that the only time those eyes blazed like that was when they were immersed in the fight and the world needed them explode with every violent skill they possessed.

Scarlett couldn't help but feel sorrow and pity for the future of both the men that she was walking away from.


	4. Ricochets of Life

**Ricochets of Life**

The silence of his new room was something that the young man wasn't sure he would become adjusted to or ever be comfortable with. He used to have a room right by the road and the window about his bed had been angled over the playground, a construction yard just a block away. But this….this silence, this perfect quiet wasn't what he was used to.

He sighed deeply as he shifted in his bed, his green eyes closed halfway as he tried to move into a more comfortable position. His right hand was resting on his stomach in a closed but relaxed fist, with his left hand behind his head as he glanced around the room. The only light came from the computer attached to his desk and an LCD screen that was attached to his wall. The computer wasn't so bad because he could turn off the screen and the room would be bathed in blissful darkness, the small button shining like little stars across the sky. The LCD screen, however, was rather irritating because it gave just enough light to give the room a hazy illumination but it wasn't of any visual use aside from keeping the young man awake most of the night.

Well, it was only part of the reason he hadn't been able to sleep that night. He was incredibly anxious about officially starting tomorrow. His class yesterday with Snake Eyes had been such a rush, the sparring match really getting him fired up and ready while the shadowing of Snake Eyes's movements had been very enlightening. His new master had gone through and nearly covered all of the basics that Echo had ever learned by combining them into a smooth and flowing kata. They had gone on for close to two hours, Scarlett returning to help give directions before she reminded them that they should take a break.

It was so surreal, being able to train so comfortably with someone that he had only just met. Maybe it was the pace or that his new master was younger than Master Dogen and therefore able to push the young man harder and further. What ever it was, it had been one of the best training session he had been through, literally wringing his heavy gi out of sweat like he had gone swimming in all his clothes. His hands were actually shaking for the first time in years after training without a heavy amount of sparring, which made him very excited. Because it was clear that Snake Eyes was holding back on him on first day, which was nice of him, so that meant that it was going to harder and challenge him even more.

Master Dogen and Sensei Martin had been right. The growth that he was going to go through was far greater than what he would have gone through at the dojo back home. As sad as it were for him to admit, it had been time for him to go. It really did upset him that he had to leave so abruptly but what could have done? Said no?

Sitting up and swinging his legs off his new bed, the quiet fighter pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes and exhaled fully. He was thinking too much now and it was starting to weigh heavily on him now. He forced himself to stand and rolled his body down until his hands were touching the floor by his feet, thinking about just keeping his breathing even and calm. Sliding his fingers on the smooth surface beneath his feet to his feet and then grabbing his legs, he grimaced as he pulled himself closer to legs.

He released his legs carefully and slowly, letting his body moved forward from the stretch and rested his hands on the floor. It was only quarter to six in the morning, but he barely had gotten any sleep last night thanks to that stupid LCD panel. He reflected on his desire to rip the damn thing from the wall at one point as he walked his body out into the push up position, slowly pushing his hips down and stretching his shoulder back towards his heels. And he knew that wouldn't have gone down very well with the maintenance crew, but he at least would have gotten some damn sleep last night and be a little more ready for what he had to do today.

Today was going to be an assessment of what he was physically capable and what skills he possessed, a fairly important event for him to go through since it would decide how long he would be training or what he would be doing. The young man lifted his hips up until he looked like the top half of a pyramid, his fingers flexing as he straightened his back. His feet picked up slightly, his shaking legs slowly rising up as he pulled himself into a handstand but he forced himself to focus on his breathing and what he was going to experience today. As his legs rose closer to being in line with his torso, he acknowledged the fact that he was going to have to learn how to shot guns and that his weapons training was going to be applied in a lethal manner.

His body was finally in alignment and he was slightly surprised to find that he was okay with himself becoming a possible lethal weapon, bending his arms when he felt his body shift unexpectedly. Echo was well aware of the fact that he was safe and sound back home because there were men and women everyday willing to guard borders and countries from people that wished harm on him and that some times they had to kill those that went too far. It wasn't as if Echo condoned killing or wished to kill himself, but he knew that he would have to face the decision at some point and he would have to make peace with himself when it happened.

He let his knees bend and rolled forward, dropping down into a crouch before standing up and getting his uniform ready for the day. The clock on the wall showed that it was quarter past six and that it was close to time for him to meet Snake Eyes in the meal hall. He sighed, bending his knees and pressing his hands onto his thighs and then pushed his hips further down while straightening out his arms. A long and slightly sickening crunch slithered out from the orphans spine as he forcefully stretched it out and he shivered as a wave of tingles ran through his body. He straightened up and shook himself out, getting dressed for the day that awaited him.

* * *

Dr. Sarah Callahan looked over the file of the young man coming to see her again, gnawing on the edge of a pen slightly as she looked over his medical chart and a brief summary of what he had been doing most of his life.

She was an attractive doctor, her short black hair cut in a slightly rebellious manner and her glasses didn't give a geeky or seductive tone, rather a chilly and technical feel. She stood close to five feet and six inches in height, allowing her to meet many of her patients, colleges and superiors in the eyes with confidence and wit; it was probably why she had received the call-sign "Raven" when she joined the Joes. She knew her looks sometimes drew the question of whether her medical training had been legitimate, her curves having turned more than the odd head at a time. She supposed that what she got for graduating medical school three years ahead of her classmates and then getting recruited by the Joes two years ago when she was twenty nine. Shifting her glasses, she continued reading his report.

And when this ink-haired doctor said brief summary, she had read novel blurbs longer than this boy's activities list; it appeared that all he had done for the past decade and a bit was train in the martial arts, with some minor mentioning of model making and that he entered in a poetry contest and a martial arts tournament. The physician sighed as she looked over the young man's features in the mugshot of him, intrigued by this increasingly curious orphan. He only had one legal name, Tobias, and then there was that nickname that had been mentioned in a report, Echo. He declined to take on a surname of any kind and he remained with the orphanage even when he had graduated high school, with no more of a reason than that he wanted to get his black belt before leaving his dojo. An odd statement since he already held two to his name.

But none of that was what interested her; it was this photo that had been taken the other day. This boy was just going into his twenty first year and whens she looked at his eyes and the lines in his face, she would have said that he looked closer to twenty six or eight.

"Hey Dr. Callahan!" A cheery voice called and Sarah resisted the urge to sigh slightly, smiling instead as she looked up to her assistant entered the med bay. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, Cindy. And yourself?" The doctor asked knowing that she would get the regular perky answer that Cindy anyways gave her.

"Feeling awesome as always!" Cindy said, her bright smile and squinting eyes a picture of childish happiness and her her index and pinky finger raised in a rock star's salute. Well, no one was perfect.

Cindy Steen was given the codename "Cinderella" for a reason, being that she always had an upbeat and near fantasy attitude towards life. In fact, she probably could have played Cinderella in a school play, with her bright blonde hair and blue eyes matching her attractive figure and borderline ditzy attitude. But for all of her airhead awareness and exuberant attitude, she was an amazing field nurse and had been the head of the triage center when working back home as a paramedic. Her father, an amazing medic that Sarah knew of and held in high recognition, had probably raised with medical jargon from when she was a toddler and influenced her all her life to become a medic.

"So, Dr, Callahan, what's on our table today?" Cindy asked as she re-clipped her ID badge to her chest and looped her stethoscope around her neck. "Anything fun or exciting?" The blonde then looked down at the file Sarah was looking at. "Oo, he's a cute one."

Sarah rolled her eyes and shifted the file towards Cindy. "And he's close to your age for once." Sarah's teasing came from the fact that Cindy was only twenty five and most of the men on base were closer to their mid-thirties than her age.

"Mm, that is a change." Cindy said as she held up the report and scanned through it in confusion. "That's odd...it says here that he hasn't served with anyone before. What's up with that?"

"I asked General Hawk about that and he said that this was a recruitment by Snake Eyes, not him."

"Wow, our resident ninja picked up a ninja protege?" Cindy said in excitement and hummed to herself. "I wonder if he's as ripped as Snakes."

Sarah shook her head as she sat at her desk, opening up her email for any other task that needed her attention. "I suppose he might be, he has been training for the better part of his lifetime."

"Oh, cool." Cindy then fell silent and Sarah looked up from her screen, surprised to see the troubled look on her assistant's face.

"Cindy, what's wrong?" The younger woman never let her self look so concerned or troubled because she believed that it was a bad bedside manner to show. She was part of the school that felt hospice should go hand in hand with medical, something that Sarah wasn't convinced about yet.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, just..." Cindy walked over and handed the file to Sarah and sat on the edge of the desk. "He's got no family, that must be horrible."

Sarah was about to reply when the doors to her bay opened and the two men entered, one that she was familiar with and one that they had just been discussing. Snake Eyes, in his full body suit and mask, had his winter camouflage pants on with a slightly large jacket, his sword not in immediate sight. This was partially due to the fact that Sarah was not always comfortable around weapons and blades in particular made her jumpy, something that Snakes had always tried to take into consideration.

The young man with him was just like he had been photographed; reddish-brown spiky hair, intense green eyes, sharp and youth facial features and a pleasant smile. He had the standard black shirt of the Joes, the eagle emblem over the right side of his chest, and wore winter pants similar to his master. He held something in his hands, which looked like a hooded sweatshirt or vest, and she watched his eyes darted everywhere, taking in his new surroundings.

"Hello Snake-Eyes, how are you today?" Sarah asked, shaking his hand and he responded in sign language. It had been necessary for her and many others to grasp at least the basics of sign language due to Snakes non-vocal responses.

_I'm good today, just getting my student sorted out for his first day_ Snakes said silently, to which he then gestured to young man beside him. _This is Tobias, or Echo as he prefers to be called_

"Good to hear." Sarah said pleasantly and then turned to the young man addressed as Tobias. "Tobias, right? My name is Dr. Sarah Callahan."

"Nice to meet you, miss." The younger man said, his quiet voice and polite response a refreshing change from the way the soldiers carried themselves.

"Likewise. Now, today, we're just going to be doing some basic tests and oversee you as you go through you initial exercises, okay?" As his nod, Sarah gestured for him to follow and walked over to one of the beds. "Alright then, hop up and have a seat here. My assistant, Cindy, will take your blood pressure and take a blood sample."

Echo nodded nonchalantly and sat himself down on the table, the resident ninja sitting down off to the side. Cindy smiled pleasantly at him as she pushed his sleeves up past his elbow and wrapped the pressure sleeve around Echo's bicep, looking at his well-toned arms. Many of the soldiers took pride in their physique and often had large biceps; the young man on the table had, however taken a different tact when is came to his arms. Yes, the bicep was well defined, the definitions coming from the , but he had also treated his triceps with the same attention and care, making his arm very balanced instead of favoring one muscle group over the other.

"Some impressive muscle development you've done here." Cindy expressed as she started up the machine and glanced back at him. "How did you get that? Playing sports, going to the gym..."

"Um, just doing a lot of martial arts and calisthenic exercises." He responded somewhat hesitantly, his shyness making Cindy smile. After the machine beeped and she got the reading, her brows raised as he flexed and shook his arm out from the pressure.

"That is pretty impressive to get from just push ups and chin ups." Her comment drew a slightly blush to his face and he shrugged. She then gestured to a small white scale, smiling at Echo pleasantly. "If you wouldn't mind, lets find out your weight."

"Okay." The young man said as he slid off the bed. "Last time I weighed myself, it was about a year and half ago...I think."

"Okay, and what were you then?" Cindy asked as she made a mental note for comparison.

"Um, I think I was around a hundred and ninety...five or six pounds." Echo said as he tried to remember, shrugging. "I don't remember, it not really that important to me."

Cindy giggled at his nonchalance attitude and glanced at the screen. "Well, you right now about ninety seven point five kilograms, which is roughly two hundred and fifteen pounds or fifteen stones."

"Huh...I put on some weight..." The young man said dejectedly and the young blonde in front of him shrugged as she looked him up and down.

"Well, muscle is a lot denser than fat, so it weighs more while having a smaller volume. So, I would suppose that you're martial arts and whatever you do has been working out very well for you." Cindy said, simultaneously reassuring him and making his blush come back. She then took a syringe out and attached a need to the end. "Now, I need an arm to take some blood from."

Then the blush was gone, the young gnawing on his lip as he hesitantly held out his right arm and she tenderly took his arm while Dr. Callahan made a note of his reaction. Apparently this young man had an issue with needles. But he just flinched slightly as Cindy slid the needle in a vein and hesitantly smiled to her own smile as she began to draw blood. Once she had enough, she removed the needle with astute swiftness and gave him a cotton ball to hold on the small hole left on his arm.

Seeing her assistant was done, Dr. Callahan walked over and looked over the records that she had before she looked up at him. "So, from what I can tell of your current medical records, you have no history of diabetes, low or high blood pressure, allergies to any foods or any disabilities. However, I am more than aware that there are some injuries that are not reported." She knew that she struck a cord when he no longer met her eyes and his excessive eye movement pretty much broadcast any thoughts that he could have been thinking about. " I was wondering if there were any injuries that you have sustained that you think I would need to know about."

"What kind of injuries would these be?" He asked cautiously, shrugging when she gave him a fixed look. "I'm just not sure what you would be interested in hearing about."

"Well, how about any major accidents that you didn't go to the hospital for?" The doctor suggested and Echo thinking was shown through his eyes, his pupils shifting from side to side.

"I got a pretty bad cut from a fight in high school...broke my ribs in the tournament I was in. Um, I don't what else." The young man named just Tobias said as he tried to recount any episode in the past, his eyes lighting up briefly. "I did get into a bad scuffle at the school when we used quarter-staffs, got really bad bruises from that."

"Okay, if you don't mind, I'd like you to show me where this cut was inflicted." Dr. Callahan requested and the young man nodded.

"Yes, mam." He said as he slid off the table and pulled his shirt off without hesitation or concern.

Now Sarah and Cindy were used to seeing the soldier and their well-toned bodies, often privy to when they would flex to show off just how toned they were. The exceptions to the rule were Snake-Eyes and Heavy Duty, because the ninja master was close to a perfect physical image and Heavy Duty was more along the lines of a power lifter and didn't care what people thought about him. Now they had to add Echo, this kid who hadn't even hit twenty-two yet, to the list because he was like a younger but different version of Snake-Eyes. They shared the same near perfect eight-pack, with taunting hip definition and complimenting obliques, but Echo's chest was a bit overdeveloped, since his pectoral and abdominal muscles weren't flexed and still shadowed his stomach, and his shoulder muscles were also rather over-defined.

She didn't notice it before because of the looseness of his shirt and she assumed that he was more filled out because of his chest and arms. Sarah also perversely wonder that if this was what his upper body looked like, then how well defined were his legs and other assets were...

"You see, it's right around my mid-back." He said, turning from Callahan so she could see her back and she blinked back to the task at hand. This also put him head on to Cindy, who had been trying to lean around to see him, and she actually unconsciously licked her lips.

But Dr. Callahan was too busy looking at the scar to reprimand her assistant. In was a clean cut and it hadn't gone very deep, though she knew that Echo should have seen a doctor for this. It actually stemmed from his right hip and curled up in a crescent fashion to his left shoulder, worryingly crossing over his spine at his mid back. This could have been extremely serious if it have been half an inch deeper and he could possibly have been paralyzed from such a cut, destroying and wasting his life long commitment to the arts he treasure so much.

"How long did this take to heal?" Callahan asked sternly, her hand tracing over the wound to inspected the scar for any sign or trace that it had been infected.

"Ah, I'm not too sure, mam. Um, maybe a month or two?" The young man clearly hadn't wanted to remember the incident and now didn't recall the incident completely. "I got a friend to tape it closed and then slowed my training down while the wound sealed."

"You trained with such a serious injury?" Sarah asked sharply, the young man glancing over his shoulder.

"Well, yeah..."

"That was incredible dangerous. What if this had become infected or if your actions tore the wound even deeper?" She scolded lightly, sitting back once she was satisfied and he faced her again.

"In all honesty, mam, who ever said you get to have a fair fight?" He asked gently and she tried to answer him but wasn't able to. When he saw that she wasn't going to answer, he continued. "I wont always have the luxury of being the best of health when it comes to a fight and I would rather learn how to cope under unfavorable circumstances."

Sarah sighed and pushed her glasses up as she rubbed the ridge of her nose, glancing at Snake-Eyes with a pointed look. "Well, I can see that the apple doesn't fall from the tree now does it." She rhetorically asked and the ninja master weakly shrugged before turning away from her slightly. "That's what I thought."

"What do you mean?" Echo asked humorously as he pulled on his shirt again, Cindy pouting as her show ended too soon for her liking.

"Your master over there came back from a mission with a gunshot wound and a dislocated shoulder and I recommended that he take some time off to heal." Dr. Callahan said, her hands resting on the folder as Echo sat on the table, nodding for her to go on. "Then, in his infinite wisdom, decided that he should be the ones to test the previous two additions to the Alpha team with martial arts. And when I heard about that, oh boy..."

"Oh yeah, I remember that day." Cindy added as Echo chuckled. "I think even General Hawk cowered while she dressed down Snake-Eyes for being so irresponsible to his body."

The young man's chuckle slipped out into laughter and Sarah smiled at the happiness that he showed. It was nice to see that he was still an optimistic soul, that he hadn't lost the ability to find a simple statement amusing. But she also wondered how long it would take; how long until he became a hardened smart-ass, a man whose jokes were cutting and found it hard to smile at anything in the world. She rested his folder aside and made a small wish that he would keep a small amount of his innocence and happiness.

"Okay then, Tobias, let's continue with the examination."

* * *

Echo followed his teacher from the medical bay and pulled his sleeveless sweatshirt on, the thick cotton exterior hiding the fleece inside. He got the sweatshirt from Abby and was quiet found of this hoodie, probably because it had a dragon wrapped around a sword on the back and the front it had the words "Victory in the face of Defeat" stylized over it. It was a fun piece of clothing that he felt would be a appropriate while he trained, a clear vocalization of what he always aimed to do.

The two martial artists entered what looked like a gym, weight machines and other devices aimed to increase one's physical fitness were scattered all over the room. Echo took a moment to scan it all in, noting the various machines that he had seen in his old high school. He was familiar with various free weight exercises but he didn't ever do any serious bench pressing or use any other machines that were in the room around him. It was either doing calisthenic exercises or some basic weight resisted training.

He hadn't lied to the nurse that had asked him about his arms and physique; it was massively due to the amount of cardio and martial arts training. Only recently, in maybe the past five years, had the young man began to use weights and even then it was so infrequent he doubted it did any good. Though maybe since that he was a part of the Joes now, it would eventually become a part of his daily routine and it could even help him get a better lift off for his jumps and kicks. If not, he could always just stick to what he was already doing since it was getting the job done as it was.

Following his master, Echo smiled when he saw the soldier known as Heavy Duty waiting for him and happily shook his hand when it was offered to him. He liked Heavy Duty; maybe it was the bluntness that the man had displayed when accepting or it was the humorous exchange that went between Ripcord and the man before him, but the young man felt an odd kinship with the man.

"Alright, kid. We're going to see what you physical limits are and so we've organized a series of tests to see where you stand in relation to the Joe standard." Heavy Duty explained, Echo nodding; it made enough sense to him and he guessed that he should be able to handle some tests from these military elites, only a little worried by what he would have to do. "We're first going to do a fitness examination with Sargent Stone, so we can see how strong and how fit you are. Following that, you'll have a firearms and accuracy testing with me, where I'll introduce to a lot of our standard weapons. Then you'll have your close-quarters-combat test with Snake-Eyes and Sargent Stone, where we can see what your unarmed fighting prowess is like, and we'll follow up with a driving course, to see how you can handle various vehicles. After that, we'll grab some lunch and finish the rest of the day after that. Cool?"

"Yeah, it's easy enough to understand." Echo said, fairly comfortable with what was planned for him. He wasn't too sure about the guns and the driving part of things, but he guessed he would have to get over that pretty quickly if he wanted to stay here at the Pit. "So what should I be doing first?"

"Well, since Sarge is running late, you go get stretched out and loosened up so when he gets here we can jump right into the testing." Heavy Duty suggested, pointing the young man across the room and Echo saw there was matted section in the gym. "That's the best spot for you warm up and we'll come get you when its time."

"Yes, sir." And Echo trotted over to the mats, running through the stretches that he could do loosen up and ready his body for the day.

A lot of them were simple enough and excellent for keeping the body loose and limber, but he just wasn't sure if he would have the time to go through them all. Echo shrugged figuring that he would just get as many done as possible, tilting his head back and then gently pushing up on his chin to stretch the front of his neck out. He then pulled his head to the right and to the left, finally lacing his fingers behind his head and pulled down to stretch out the back of his neck. He moaned at the tingle that slid down his neck and over the top of his shoulders, releasing his neck as he leaned forward.

Echo placed his hands flat on the floor by his feet, his breathing steady and even as he held his position and he then grasped his ankles. He gently pulled and he grimaced as his head lined up with his knees, letting go and straightening up. He leaned forward again, this time holding himself there long enough so that he could undo the boots on his feet and when he stood up, he slipped his feet out of them and set them aside. His training in Hapkido and Wushu demanded that he had a high level of flexibility and speed, his strength and agility mere by products of his constant training. It was why when he spread his legs out to the side, that he was able to push himself all the way down into the splits and hold himself there without much discomfort or strain. He missed the looks of surprised from the other soldiers because he leaned forward in the stretch and rested his upper body down on his forearms and focused on his breathing.  
He carefully sat up, placing his palms on the mats firmly and straightening his arms out, and then slowly lifted his back over his shoulders with his feet sliding up. He exhaled sharply and tightened his lower back and legs as he carefully lifted himself up into a shaking handstand. His breaths were short and sharp as he tried to get his feet above his head, his body wanting to twist and turn in different directions, but he wasn't able to. He back rocked forward and Echo quickly bent his arms and tucked his chin to his chest, lowering his body to his shoulders and then rolling out until he was sitting up.

He could handstand against a wall and he could jump into the handstand but, for the life of him, he wasn't able to lift himself into it. It was a balancing exercise that his Wushu Sifu had given him but he still couldn't get it right. The one he got this morning must have just been a fluke or maybe because he was hyper-focused on himself in his dead quiet room but it was probably a one off thing.

"Well, I can see that your Snake's apprentice after that little show." A voice informed him from his left, Echo turning to see a gloved hand extended out to him. "The name is Sargent Stone, the head instructor for the Joes and I will taking you through most of your evaluation today."

Once Echo was on his feet and got a good look at the man beside him, the young man couldn't help but picture him as a military archetype, specifically the Hard Drill Sargent. He had the stereotypical square jaw and the thousand yard stare etched in his eyes that told Echo that it would take only the distinctively impressive efforts that would earn this man's praise. He had a black beret on his head with the GI Joe logo emblazoned upon it, Echo also catching a tattoo on the older man's right forearm and he thought it might have been the similar as the Joes insignia but with a more personal embellishment.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Echo politely said, shaking the man's hand that had helped him up and releasing the man's grip so he could get his boots back on. "I'm Echo, which I'm guessing that you already know."

"Yeah, Heavy filled me in as to what the general idea was to do with you today." The sargent said offhandedly, patting the new soldier on his shoulder. "You ready to get started, kid, or do you need a few more minutes with your yoga warm up?"

Echo scoffed at the joke, and shook his head. "No, sir. I think I should be sufficiently warmed up for now."

"Just want I want to hear." Sargent Stone said as Heavy Duty walked over and handed him a clipboard, the instructor glancing down the first page that was clipped to the small buckboard. "So, first thing we're going to look at is your basic level with exercises. We'll give you a time limit and we want to see how many of the exercises you can do in the allotted time."

"Hm, that doesn't seem too bad." Echo said, reasonably comfortable with his physical fitness. "Is there a certain amount that I have to reach?"

"Well..."

"For now, kid, we just want you to go all out, absolute balls-to-the-walls with these, okay?" Stone said when Heavy Duty didn't answer Echo and the young nodded in understanding, though it did make him wonder how many were really required. "So, if you're ready to go, let's start with some push-ups."

Echo knelt down on the floor and then realized something, raising his hand hesitantly. "Um, standard version or triangles, sir?"

"Just basic ones will do, soldier."

Echo nodded and then rest his body down, spreading his arms out to the side and crossing one foot over the other. He made sure that his hands were in the best spot for sustained pushups, knowing that if they were angled wrong it could cut down on how long you could go or how much energy you used. He glanced at his two instructors, giving them a nod to signify that he was ready to go.

"Okay, you going for two minutes starting...now!" The moment Heavy Duty began pronouncing the N syllable of now, Echo pushed down on the floor, his torso shooting up into the air.

As he rose, he made sure to exhale and to lift with his chest, back and arms instead of just letting one muscle group over exert itself, managing to keeping his back straight so that he could make his weight work for him. Another thing that he did was keep his core as tight as possible, using his midsection to center his weight as much as possible and to make his chest work. When it came time for him to lower himself, he made the descent a controlled drop by keeping his elbow joints and shoulder blade loose so that he could effectively bounce back upwards. He also inhaled the whole way down, ensuring that while he didn't fully inflate his lungs, he did take the needed amount. A surprising lesson he learned when he was much younger was how much breathing was able to affect the body and how you needed to make sure to keep breathing while doing certain activities.

As Echo plowed away with his push-ups, he didn't actually keep count but choose to displace his mind instead. He didn't want to think about how much the back of his arms were starting to burn or how his shoulder creaked a little bit every seven or so extensions. No, instead he focused his mind on keeping his arms moving and to keep going until he head the magic words.

"And...time!" Heavy Duty barked, Echo dropping his his knees down and sitting back on his heels with a grin splayed over his face as he breathed heavily. The rush he got was awesome, the muscles in his arms and chest warm and taunt. "Okay, Stone, how many reps did you count?"

"Ninety-five..." The older man said in disbelief, the young man kneeling on the floor lifting his hands up in victory. "How on earth did you manage to do ninety-five push-ups in two minutes, kid?"

"Back home...in the dojo...we had this competition called Ladder Reps." Echo explained as he caught his breath. "We had to do a certain number of reps of something to stay in the rounds...the rules were, you either had to match the reps done before you or exceed them, then the next person matched you."

"Damn, that sounds rough." Stone said as he squatted next to Echo.

"Well, when someone ups the game to doing clapping push-ups or handstand push-ups and the base number they set is twelve or fifteen, your stamina gets kicked up a few notches." The reserved young man said casually, swallowing as he rolled his shoulders.

"I'll say...maybe we should start doing something like that here." Stone said as he stood back up and nodded to Heavy Duty, the large man's stop watch beeping as he reset it. "Ready to do some sit-ups?"

"Sure, that would be fun."

Echo slipped his leg around to in front of him, rest back on his lower back and placing his hands by his head, and nodded at Stone. Heavy duty set him off again and Echo felt his torso snap up to his thighs, exhaling as he did so. He sucked the air back in as he fell back but made sure to keep his shoulder from hitting the ground and kept his core tight as he straightened back. He then snapped back up and repeated the whole process.

Again, Echo didn't count. Not because of pain reason since he always did crunches and other abdominal exercises, that this really wasn't too bad; no, he knew that if he counted instead of focusing on his form and doing the exercise right that he wouldn't be able to do as many as he could do. He briefly wondered if he would be able to do more sit-ups than push-ups, since he felt that he had more strength in his core than his arms and he was looser in his core than his shoulders. He just hoped that he got above-

"Time!" Echo stopped mid-sit-up, in what looked like a crunch, at Heavy Duty's command and let himself fall back, slowing his breathing. "Not bad, Echo. For two minutes, you got...?"

"I'll be damned...I got about eighty-two reps." Stone's gaze was on the young man before him, the fighter who was just at the legal age to drink was pushing his pelvis up with one leg over the other. He then straightened his legs out and rolled back, his hands under his shoulders as his whole body came onto his palms and upper back; with a snapping buck of his hips, the young man's legs flew forward and he flipped on his feet. "What the hell did you study again? The martial arts of Dragon Ball Z and Street Fighter?"

Echo had the decency to look embarrassed as he blushed lightly but also chuckled. He had gotten that comment, or at least ones similar to it, a few times... "I've only trained seriously in three arts, sir. Hapkido, Wushu and then Ninjutsu were my primary focuses and they just happen to have a very intense focus on things like balance, kicking, conditioning, grappling and, as you've seen by now, core strength."

What he didn't say was that he had often gone over and beyond the recommended number for the exercises given to him and would often train in the moves up to an hour after the class had been finished. The reason he spent so much time on the arts was because that he really wanted to push himself further and further until he was unable to progress anymore. But why?

It was the single most asked question that Echo ever received when it came to his desire to surpass his limitation. Why did he insist on pushing himself until he collapsed from exhaustion, till his knuckles bleed and his white gi became black from sweat and grime? The reason was because that Tobias really didn't have anything that his own except a nickname and the skills that he had rightfully earned and refined through his hard work. Sure, he had gotten good grades in school and he would have eventually found a school for higher education but the martial arts defined him. It was something that he excelled in like no other at his school and he truly loved training in the arts, to the point were he even considered becoming a teacher within the school.

Mind you, things had changed a lot since he thought about becoming a teacher...

"Alright, keep your secrets, Ninja Jr. Come on over this way." Stone mumbled, Echo grinning from ear to ear as he followed his two instructors with Snake-Eyes behind him. He liked these soldiers so far; they had been very welcoming and he enjoyed Stone's humorous attitude to the whole induction to the Joes. "You ready for round three, kid?"

"Yup, what's next?" Echo asked as he looked around and then happened to glance up, chuckling as he felt a wave of happiness hit him. "Really?"

"Yeah, but you don't get timed for your chin-ups." Stone said as he pointed to the red and black back above their heads. "Just do as many as you possibly can."

Echo nodded and glanced up at the bar, unable to stop grinning. His smile was from own personal feelings towards the chin-up exercise, which he found himself reflecting as he jumped up and grabbed the bar. The chin-up had a certain significance to Echo and that significance was that they were a mark of strength, a level of physical fitness, being able to lift ones weight, that the general society could aim for. He glanced to Sargent Stone and the man nodded, Echo beginning to lift himself up and down at an easy and relaxed pace while making sure to clear his head of the pipe each time.

This took Echo back to the first time that he was actually able to do more than three in a row, he had to be about sixteen years old at the time. He had been so excited, feeling his muscles push past the count of seven before he had to let go. Nowadays, he was able to do three sets of fifteen thanks to Dogen's focused attention and that was something he'd never thought he would be able to do a few years ago. He really did owe that small Japanese man a lot...

He groaned as he came down and struggled to pull himself upwards, his triceps stiffening and his back tightening up to compensate for the lat of arm lifting. He forced himself to get two more before his arms went slack, Echo breathing heavily as he felt the burn seeping in and then dropped down into a crouch. He actually stay on his toes and knees for a minute to catch himself, rolling his shoulders out to lessen the tension on his muscles.

"So...how'd I do then?" The young man asked as he stood up, a slight wobble in his step but he was fine once he opened up his legs a bit. "Sorry, I should have been counting but...my mind was just wandering."

"Its okay, we both were counting, right Sargent Stone?" Heavy Duty assured the young man and the larger man counted the tallies he had been making, whistling when he was done. "And that is a impressive tally of thirty-two clean reps."

"Huh, interesting." Echo said, mildly disappointed with himself as he honestly thought he had done more.

"What? You don't too satisfied about that." Heavy Duty observed, noting the number down and patting the young man on the shoulder. "Trust me, its a lot more that what some people have managed."

"I guess..." Echo said accepting, rubbing the back of his hand against his chest. "I was just hoping I could do more with what my old master had me doing."

"Well, what was that?"

"Fifteen chin-ups, four times in a row?" Echo said hesitantly, rocking his head from side to side. "Eh, he would also have me do push-up in-between on some days."

Heavy Duty stared at him and then started chucking while Sargent Stone rubbed his face. "Kid, your gonna fit in just fine around here."

"Awesome, man." Echo said, surprised and happy to hear such praise, dissuading him from thinking about his short comings. "So, does this mean I get to know what the repetition count was for then?"

"In certain military factors, like SAS, Navy SEALS and the Army Rangers, they have base physical requirements that applicants need to have if they want into the program. Since you haven't been through any military training and the Joes are above special forces, we had to get a measurement of what you were able to do." Sargent Stone explained, allowing Heavy Duty to do some more calculations and notations. "They all roughly have the same exercises that they use to assess their candidates and so we took their numbers, found a common average and used that as our physical requirements."

"Do you guys just test us the once when we enter or is it a continual thing?" Echo asked, curious as the whole procedure was completely foreign to him.

"We normally have assessments at different times for different people. Some of us get tested yearly and others are tested every six months. I mean, some even get tested quarterly if their role in the field requires it or they are put under a year long probation." Sargent Stone helpfully explained, looking over to Heavy Duty who had finished with the tallying and then gestured to the machine at the large man's nod. "You use weights at all, kid?"

"Not really, not that much at least." Echo admitted, shrugging as they walked towards a long metal pipe with large plates on either end. "I used those hand held weight used for toning your biceps and triceps a little bit but nothing serious or frequent."

"Well, this here is the bench press. Its a workout that generally targets your chest strength, with a minor targeting in you triceps and shoulders." Sargent Stone explained as he patted the metal bar, sizing Echo up as he walked around the exercise station and began to rearrange the plates. "We just want to get a gauge of the max weight you can lift. And going by what we just recorded, I'm going to go on a limb and say we can start a little above a hundred pounds. Maybe a hundred and twenty?"

Echo shrugged and nodded, pretty confident since it was under his body weight. "Yeah, lets give it a shot, sir." He agreed as he sat down and lay back under the bar.

Under the bar, Echo noticed the textured sections of the bar and wrapped his fingers around them, rubbing the callouses of his fingers and hands against the tiny bumps on the bar. The reserved young man pressed his lower back against the bench, pulling his lower set of abdominal muscles tightly together and in doing so, tightened the rest of the muscles in his stomach as Heavy Duty stood above him, in what Echo guessed as precautionary measure. Inhaling deep and exhaling smoothly, he nodded to Heavy duty as he took another breath and exhaled as he pushed up on the bar. Clearing the hooks with the larger man's assistance, Echo began his reps in time with his breathing.

The weight, one hundred and twenty according Sargent Stone went up easier with his breath that expected and he held the weight above him without needing to lock his elbows. He could feel the weight but it wasn't that bad for him, something that Echo had a theory about. He was used to lifting his own body weight, over fifty times in some instances, every day ever since he was able to at sixteen. Echo knew that he worked different muscles when doing chin-ups but that didn't mean that there wasn't some kind of cross training going on with his body and the other muscles had to be getting some kind of training as a result.

"How's that feel, kid?" Heavy Duty asked, receiving an easy nod from Echo.

"This is pretty easy, sir. I mean, I can feel the weight and I feel the muscles working, but its not that bad." Echo explained, Heavy Duty helping him ease the weights back.

"Well, if that's the case, you could add a bit more weight if you want..." Sargent Stone stopped when Snake-Eyes rested his hand on the sargent's shoulder. "What's up, Snakes?"

The fully clad ninja made some signs and all that Echo caught was the number three and then the ninja master pointing at his bar. "You want to what? Snakes, man, I know you got high hopes for the kid, but..." Sargent stone began and Echo furrowed his brow in confusion.

"What does he want to do, Heavy Duty?"

"He's talking about adding thirty pounds..." Echo didn't really see the big about that - "...to both ends of the barbell and increasing the weight by sixty pounds, making it one-eighty." Echo now saw the concern the other two had.

But then he saw how the ninja master was looking at him. Echo knew that they hadn't know each other very long but his master seemed to think that he could do it and given his previous physical test, Echo didn't disagree with his master faith because it was fairly well founded.

"Hey, Sargent Stone?" Echo called, sitting up as he drew the attention of both his superiors. "Let's give it a shot, okay? I mean, Heavy Duty is right there and can jump in if I have too much trouble, right?"

The drill sargent glanced between Snake-Eyes and Echo, sighing as he nodded. Echo watched as the extra plates were loaded on and rolled his shoulder back and forth as watched the bar above him. Getting the okay, from Stone, Echo grabbed the bar and took his two deep breaths. The bar was now one hundred and eighty pounds, Echo nodding to Heavy Duty as he lifted the bar up and the two guided it out to over his chest. Heavy Duty, however, kept his hands near the bar as the young man lowered it down.

Now this time, Echo could feel the weight as he lifted it up and down but it just felt like he was finally using his muscles. He had no idea why, but he felt a smile spreading over his face as he smoothly lifted the bar up and down, his upper body heating up slowly as he kept his repetition clean and smooth as before. He counted about fifteen reps before he nodded to Heavy Duty, the two of them easing it back into the slots above him.

"How was that then?" Sargent Stone asked, his tone playful and Echo had to smile back.

"Better, I could feel a lot more working this time around." Echo replied, rolling his shoulders forward and back.

"Excellent then." Sargent Stone said, making a note before looking back at Echo. "The gym here is for you to keep your self in the closest thing to your physical prime as possible and you can work with the older and more experienced Joes here to refine your body. Just ask anyone and I'm sure they'll be more than willing to give you some pointers."

"And if you want, you can always tag along with me and Snakes when we do our gym routine, kid." Heavy Duty cheerily offered, Echo slightly unsettled by his smile. The larger man then patted his shoulder, gesturing for him to follow. "Come on then, its time to show you my end of things."

Curious by that statement, Echo wiped his sweaty palms on his sweat shirt and followed the larger man with Stone and Snake-Eyes coming right behind him.

* * *

"Right, before you are all the firearms that we carry at this base. We will be introducing you a large variety over the next few weeks and from there, we will decide which firearms suit you best." Heavy Duty informed the young man that sat before a table that was covered in guns. "From assault rifles, to pistols, to RPGs, to sniping rifles and even throwing knives and grenades, you will be educated in their advantages and disadvantages so that you can learn to counter-attack them in the field."

"Yes, sir." Echo acknowledged quietly, his eyes studying the weapons before him.

Guns didn't interest him much. In fact, Echo had a great disdain for guns and preferred to use his body as the weapon. Aside from seeing them on TV and in video games, he had never used one or even seen one and didn't really find anything about them appealing. The skill required to fire a gun versus the skill to defend yourself without weapons was grossly different in his mind, as you just had to have the gun facing the general direction to kill someone while using your body took so much more practice; the guns of today made something that once was a hesitancy to perform now an almost a careless afterthought.

But this was a part of the job and he was going to do this job right the first time, despite how he might feel about the weapons of choice.

"Today, since you've never fired a gun at all, we want to expose you to a variety of sidearms and assault riffles that we will use in the field and give you a general target practice." Heavy Duty explained, walking around to the other side of the table. "Other lessons will involve learning to give maintenance to your weapon, how to identify other weapons by their gunfire, accuracy improvement and shooting with teammates in formation."

"So, today will be about me getting use to actually using a gun, right, Sir?" Echo asked and nodded when he saw Heavy Duty nod. "Okay, were do we start then?"

"Right, come around this side and let's start you off with something small." The larger man said as he picked a small gun that looked liked it was only meant for one hand and once Echo was beside Heavy Duty, the older man held the gun in the flat of his hand. "This one of the many sidearms, or more specifically handguns, that we employ here and one of three pistols that are frequently used in the field. This one is a Walter P99, a nice light and accurate sidearm and an excellent accompanying weapon for a larger assault rifle. The safety on the side here is engaged so no rounds will discharge and to fire, you will have to switch that to disengaged. For now, just have a feel for the weight and the grip."

Echo nodded and tenderly picked the firearm up from Heavy Duty's palm, the grip fitting easily into his hand. It wasn't as heavy as he initially predicted and the grips held the gun in his hand in a comfortable, his index finger resting unnervingly naturally beside the trigger. The top of the gun sleekly blended into the handle and upon examination of the weapon, the only part of the gun that didn't smoothly flow into itself was the light under the muzzle and the small bump under the handle.

Lifting the weapon, Echo placed his other hand under the gun and settled it halfway on the handle's base and on his hands. He swept the weapon around with in his sights, trying to gauge what he would use to aim or if he would just have to develop that sense over time. As he moved the weapon, he felt a button above the trigger of the weapon and tentatively pushed it. After he pressed it, he felt a vast majority of the weight in the gun shift and something fall into his left hand, the hand that cradled the weapon and his right hand. As he lowered his hand down, a long slender piece of metal slide from the weapon and Echo noted the bullets racked into the piece of metal that he removed.

He gave a glance to Heavy Duty as he slid it back into the handle. "This is a...clip, right?"

"Right, and you found the eject button for the clip, or a magazine being the other technical term. Once you spent all of your rounds in a clip, you eject the empty one and slap a new one in there." Heavy Duty instructed, Echo repeating the motions again and this time gave a harder slap to the magazine, a louder click sounding out this time. "That's the stuff. Now, grip the top of the gun with your non-firing hand and pull back. That's what's called the slide and it will load the ammunition into your gun so you can use it. The entire reloading process is a two-step process."

Echo gripped the top of the gun between his finger tips and his thumb, pulling until he heard a rhythmic clacking sound. He now knew that the weapon in his hands was load and made sure to keep the muzzle tilted towards the ground, away from anyone around him. The young man couldn't say that he wasn't interested to see how it felt to fire a gun and to see if he would be any good at it, though his dislike of firearms still remain in the back of his mind.

"I only need to do this when I put fresh clip in the gun, right?" Echo asked, studying the gun with such an intense focus that you thought he could see the mechanics in an exploded view. "Or do I need to do this to fire every time?"

"Just the time that you put a magazine in. After that, the process is pretty much automatic and self contained. The only exception is cocking back on the hammer but that is done to increase the sensitivity of the trigger on your first shot and to prep your self for shooting at someone."

"The hammer?"

Heavy Duty reached through Echo's line of sight and point to small tail of metal that was at the back of the slide, a small hook with textured grip on the top. "This part right here. Its called the hammer, the part that strikes the back of the bullet and fires off the bullet. Back when we didn't have automatic firing technology, you would have constantly had to keep pulling back on the hammer for each shot."

"But, automatic fire makes an unnecessary action nowadays?"

"Correct. Only a few of us on the base actually use revolvers, which are single shot guns, while the rest of us use guns like in your hands, which are pretty designed for automatic fire." Heavy Duty explained and then pressed a button, an image of a man with a rifle fading into existence. "Alright, now I want you to disengage the safety, line up your target and fire a single shot at him."

Echo nodded as he turned to the image more fully and took up a supportive stance, exhaling as he flicked down on the safety switch. He looked back up at the target, lifting the gun up so it match the line that his vision had on the target. He was annoyed at the wobbling of his hands and took a long and slow breath to help steady his hands, the gun slowly leveling out as he hesitated slightly before squeezed on the trigger.

The sharp bang of the shot was not something that Echo expected and spooked him slightly, the recoil shooting all the way back to his shoulder. But he kept his eyes towards the target, even as he flinched and blinked at the shot, and watched as the image stumbled back, folding back to protect his chest where Echo could see the distortion of the image. From the anatomy that he had learned from Master Dogen, he guessed he had hit the top of the man's lung and damaged the shoulder blade on his right side, which meant that...

"You clipped the top of his left lung and took out his firing arm while not cause immediate fatality." Heavy Duty said as Echo re-engaged the safety and looked back at the older man, who was studying a screen. "You disabled him and allowed for his capture rather than out right kill him."

"Yeah, I guess I have to get used to the notion that I'll have to shoot and fight to kill at times, huh?" Echo asked as he looked back at the image that had come back up. "I'll go again."

"It's not a bad thing to be reluctant about killing, kid. That's something that you need to hang on to because it'll help keep your humanity." Heavy Duty said reassuringly as he approached the young soldier while Echo disengaged the safety and sighted up his next target. " You just need to be able to-"

Echo fired without saying a word and this time he forced his eyes to stay open, his arms bent more for the shock and the kickback. The figure this time just snapped back at the head, like he had taken a hard jab to the nose and just fell back. The young fighter's gaze fell first to his target and then to the gun as he engaged the safety again, knowing full well that he had hit the target that he initially intended to hit on his first shot. He knew the logic of a gun was that it traveled in a straight line and so he knew all he had to do was make sure that the starting point and the target just lined up.

"...to turn it off once in a while." Heavy Duty finished slowly, their eyes meeting briefly as Echo licked his dry lip unsteadily. "I think you might be getting the hang this."

"Just maybe, sir."

"Well, lets look at some of these other weapons then..." Heavy Duty paused as a door opened and Snake-Eyes entered with a small bow. "Hey Snakes, you got something specific for Echo to try?"

The silent master nodded and walked over to the two, Echo checking to make sure that he had engaged the safety before handing the gun off to Heavy Duty. His master then pulled a pair of metal disks with razor points sticking out, the young fighter immediately recognizing it a signature ninja weapon called a shuriken, and a throwing knife with a nylon wrapped handle. He rested them on the table and gave Heavy Duty a series of quick and smooth hand gestures before giving Echo a pat on the shoulder and giving a thumbs up before he left the room.

"Snakes has to go and run a close-quarters training session, but we'll catch up to him in a bit. He said he wants you try and use these weapons before we finish up or go any further." Heavy Duty explained, Echo nodding as he followed the instructions and gingerly picked up the throwing knife and spun it in his hand as to get a feel for the balance. "With the throwing knife, you can either hold it by the blade or by the handle when you throw as each grip will be better for a different distance. This is mainly used to slow your opponents down or to disable them for interrogation but your master tends to use them with lethal precision. More so than I do."

"Okay. So, should I arch over my shoulder or around from my side?" Echo asked and furrowed his brow in confusion at Heavy Duty's shrug.

"Sorry kid, but I can't really tell you that one. It's not like shooting a gun because that has generally universal fashion in how it can be used and which way to hold it." Heavy Duty explained to the confused new recruit. "With knives, there are so many ways to use them and a lot of applications for them; with those variations also comes the various methods to use a knife and it ends up boiling down to your personal preferences of how you like to use a knife."

Echo shrugged and looked back at the holographic computer-generated image, tossing the knife up in the air in a slow manner. He then caught the handle between the heel of his palm and his fingers, with his resting on the bridge of the handle and his index finger resting on the back edge of the knife. His arm was heavy with tension as he lifted it up past his head and then relaxed as he wiped the edged weapon forward with the speed of bullwhips snap, the hurtling through the air as his arm stopped just in front of his face. Unlike the bullets he had shot before, the knife sailed visible through the air until it struck the man.

Unfortunately, the pommel of the handle struck the man instead of the blade and the weapon clattered harmlessly to the ground, the holographic image stumbling about. Echo sighed dejectedly and shrugged at Heavy Duty, gnawing on the inside of his lower lip. He wasn't surprised that he couldn't make the shot the first time but he had gotten a little over-optimistic after the two lucky shots that he had fired off earlier.

"Don't sweat it, kid. I'm sure that Snakes will have you tossing those things around blindfolded in no time." Heavy Duty assured him, the two turning to look at the firearms again. "Let's look at using this assault rifle, the M16..."

* * *

The young soldier followed the tall black man from the firing range, flexing his hands as he still felt the foreign shock tingling through his arms as they entered a large cavern area. They walked past dozens of men and women training until they reached a circle of men and women that Snake-Eyes was overlooking with critical sight. In the center were two soldiers, who were trading blows backwards and forward until one hit the mats and yielded. Then the winner would stay and another challenger would come in, the two fight circling each other before clashing with each other.

Echo and Heavy Duty stopped behind Snake-Eyes and the young fighter then noted that Beach Head was standing next to him, taking notes on what looked to be an electronic clipboard. But then Echo was distracted by the fight as one man gave a hard right hook to his opponent and then planted an equally hard front kick to the man's torso. The opponent fell back but then took the aggressor's legs out and mounted him, raining down a storm of punches.

"From what I've gathered over the years, the rules are that you have to yield or be knocked out in the fight in order to leave the match." Heavy Duty explained in a lowered tone, the other soldiers loudly encouraging the one on his back. "Sometimes, Snakes will intervene but that's only if he's concerned about the health of the two fighters or someone getting too carried away. Other than that, you're on your own."

"So, he's stimulating a real fight for these guys then." Echo summarized, catching the older man nodding out of the corner of his eye. "Hmm, that's good to know; I'm used to fights like that. Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

Heavy Duty paused, the man on the bottom in the fight bucking his hips up to throw the other fighter of of him and rolled onto his knees. As the other man tried to get up, the pounded fighter delivered a swift jab and then heavy right elbow to the other man, knocking him down again. "Yeah, there is." He said evenly but also cautiously, which made Echo look at him. "Remember that that these men and women, their soldiers. They don't fight for tournaments or for defense, but to survive and to kill. They are hard people and you have to be just as hard to make it through."

Echo was silent and then looked back at the match, the man who had just been punched staying down while the other man stood in victory and the other soldiers cheered him on. "I think I can understand that mentality." Echo then look at his guide for the day and shrugged. "And if I don't, I'll have to learn it soon enough."

"Hey kid! Echo!" Echo turned to face Sargent Stone and the drill sargent gestured to the standing man, Snake-Eyes glancing over his shoulder to his new apprentice. "You ready to give this a shot?"

Echo bowed his head slightly and stepped forward, pulling the sweat shirt from his body and leaving it at the edge of the mats. As he joined his opponent in the middle of the circle, he rolled his wrists and shoulder to jog them from their static hang and he bounced on his toes to wake up his legs as well. The man shook himself and then lifted his hands up by his head, nodding to Echo. The younger man nodded back and raised his hands in a similar fashion, beginning to circle with his opponent. He was in similar clothes to Echo, with the exception that his camouflage pants were a beige color, and they were also close in height, with the other man maybe being a slight inch taller than him. But it was his face that was nearly void of any tells and signs that Echo noted the most and it just gave him one reaction.

And that was to have a faint, ghost-of a smile slant onto his face.

The other stopped and shot forward with a jab, moving quite fluidly and with a good sense of his body but he dropped his guarding hand as he shot forward. Echo slipped to the outside of the punch, hopping his left leg up and then snapping his closer right leg into the side of the man's face with the flat of his foot. The man, in a lunge, wasn't centered or balanced to take such a blow and toppled past Echo, landing in a heap. Echo backed off and lowered his legs in case the rising soldier decided to take him to the ground. The man looked dazed and surprised, suddenly much more cautious of this young opponent that he now had in front of him.

He did try and go for a take down and Echo stopped him by spreading his weight more pushing down on him with his elbows, but he then missed the punch to the ribs. The man had a brick for a fist and the young man felt it, having a brief flashback to when Sensei Steven sparred seriously with him for the first time but this time he didn't freeze up. He wrapped his arms around the man and rolled himself to the side, both of them land on their side heavy. Echo quickly rolled around so that he had the man's body above his head and tightened his abs to pull himself up in a sit-up position, before arching back. The young man landed on his hands and bent them in as his body folded against himself, his feet arcing over in a semi-circle until his left foot smacked the center of his opponent's back.

After that contact, he then finished the handspring and flipped to his feet, spinning around to face his opponent. But the man was groaning as he rolled over, unable to pull himself to his feet and waved his hand under his chin, signaling his defeat. When he saw that, Echo relaxed entirely and helped the older man to his feet; the soldier nodded his thanks and walked to the edge of the mats. He then looked to the three instructors that were judging the fights for information as to what to do next, raising a brow when Snake-Eyes nodded into the crowds and Sargent Stone smiled a little smugly.

"Hey Talbot, hop in with Echo!" Sargent Stone called out, another average looking solder coming into the ring and Echo reflexively noted that he had tattoos on the side of his neck and he was in pretty good shape.

Echo and the soldier named Talbot circled each other, the young man taking his opponent's stride and size into account as he lifted his open hands to chest level. He remembered what Heavy Duty said to him a few minutes ago and understood that this was a combat-ready soldier and that he had to fight him as such. He wasn't going to be able to fight his normal defensive or patient way because it just wouldn't work in a more serious situation.

Talbot stopped and then lunged at Echo head on with a hook, the young fighter blocking him with the back of his hand. Another fist came in, this time to his ribs and his other hand slapped his forearm so his fist would swing wide; with both attacks so quick together, the man had unintentionally brought himself too close to the young man and let both of Echo's hands get inside his guard. Echo pounded four quick punches to the man's torso and then slammed both palms on his opponent's chest, Talbot falling back as Echo held his position.

Talbot was quick to rise, a good trait for fighters, and gave a roundhouse kick to Echo's side, the kick faster then Echo expected and made him grunt when it connected. The experienced soldier, seeing his attack work, tried to kick the younger man again but Echo caught the leg, bringing his closest knee up into Talbot's thigh. Snake-Eyes's new student didn't drop his leg but instead kicked the man's other leg out and dropped him on his back, stepping back. But Talbot was done, holding his leg that Echo had kneed and shaking his head.

"Williams, sub in for Talbot!" Sargent Stone called out and a heavy man walked forward from the crowd, Echo blinking at the man.

He was thick, a lot different from Talbot. If Talbot had been the quarterback in football, then William was like the offensive linesman that plowed through the defensive line. The shirt covering the large man, left nothing to the imagination and Echo could see that this man took pride in his muscles, probably exercising harder and longer than his teammates. So that meant that strikes might not be the best solution with him.

"Come on, kid! Free shot!" William goaded, pounding his beefy fist to his stomach and Echo gulped at the prospect but wasn't stupid enough to pass the chance up.

The young man took one step forward and brought his left knee up and he leapt into the air, his body twisted around as he coiled his right leg. When he had his back to the man, he pushed his right leg out with all his might into the man and forced his body to keep turning, giving a second strike, a front kick with his left foot. Williams stepped back a bit, his face showing surprise and Echo, not planning his landing, hit the ground on his back. He flipped himself up to his feet and watched as Williams rubbed his broad chest for a moment, smiling soon afterward which made Echo sweat even more. No, striking was going to be pretty much useless here.

The man then tackled Echo at waist, nearly knocking the wind from the young man upon impact and then managed to do so when they crashed to the floor. When they hit the floor, Echo did the best thing that Abby had advised him to do in such a situation and wrapped his arm around the man's neck in a guillotine choke. Williams tried to situp but found he couldn't because of the hold on his neck and began to panic, Echo hanging on for dear life as the man tried to shake him off. The reserved man felt the older soldier's weight lift off of his legs, planting his heels on man's hips and forcing Williams to roll over to the right.

Tightening his lock even more and pushing his hips up so his thighs were onto the man's chest, Echo slowly straightened his back began to close the air off to Williams and to stretch his neck joints out of place. The large man flailed about, clawing at the young man's shirt, trying to buck him off or even kick him, rocking his body from side to side with no luck until the attempts became weaker and weaker. Finally, after a few very long seconds, Williams reluctantly slapped the floor three times and Echo released him immediately and stood off of him so that he could breathe.

The large man looked very pale and had trouble standing, even with Echo aiding him to his feet. Two other soldiers, closer to Williams build, came over and helped him walk over to the edge of the mats, setting him down as Dr. Callahan looked over him.

"Hey Snakes, I think we're going to have to up the ante for this student of yours." Heavy Duty said with an ominous chuckle while Sargent Stone nodded in agreement, Echo shooting the men a worrying glance. "Richards, Bowman; front and center for this lad, boys."

The young soldier looked at the two men walking out, both limbering up as they bounced on their toes and shook their hands out. Again, these two looked like the average soldier in the Pitt and that didn't exactly make them stand out by much, aside from the fact that one was a sunny blonde and the other was a dusty brunette. Echo nodded to them and set himself into his loose stance again, this time closing his hands.

The other two didn't wait for him to move, both attacking him at the same time but at different levels; the blonde man swung his leg up in a high kick to Echo's shoulder and the brown haired man swept down at Echo's knees with his forearm. Leaning with the the kick as it came in, the young man kicked off the ground and leaped into a hand-less cartwheel over the lower attack. He landed in a crouch and rolled over his shoulders away from the soldier, standing up as the closest one lunged at him.

Echo stopped him with a hand on his opponent's right shoulder and blocking the left hook that came at his side. Pushing off the shoulder, he slapped the man in the face; it wasn't necessarily as fast or strong as it was hard but it did the trick. The bright red patch on the man's face blossomed and his eyes welled from a instinctive reaction that went beyond what a flinch was. You couldn't train this out of your body, it was a matter of the facial nerves being so sensitive. With getting such a broad strike in like a slap, he was triggering so many facial nerves that his sense would automatically go into hypersensitivity.

The man tried for another hook but Echo ducked under that and walloped the man with another slap on the other side of his head, the face moving away as his hand remained where it had met the cheek. The young man pulled back slightly as the other soldier kicked at him, the heavy front kick that followed up slamming into his chest. Echo stumbled back and hit the floor hard, rolling over his right shoulder onto his feet as the brown haired man advanced to him. He blocked another kick, moving with the blow to lessen the damage and slipped away from the slapped man as he tried for a quick hook to the ribs. The kicker moved to his left and a plan clicked into place, one that he had leaned from Abigail but he would have to improvise a bit...

He suddenly snapped a side kick to one man's face, a stream of curses flying from his mouth and when the man that he had been slapping around swiped at him, Echo slipped back and grabbed his wrist. He bent the arm, pushed up on the elbow with his free hand and then flipped him on the floor. Keeping his grip on the man's arm, the young man hopped his feet from the floor and scissor clamped them on the legs of the man he had kicked in the face. He twisted his hips and brought the man crashing to the ground, twisting the other man's arm so he twisted around to being face down on the floor.

Pulling his legs, Echo yanked the man's arm and wrapped one under it and then over the top while he put his other leg under the arm and that heel into his first opponent's stomach. Sitting back, the man yelped as a sharp shot through his elbow and shoulder and, knowing that one was taken care of, Echo looked at the man he had just swept to the floor. He had just rolled over onto his hands and knees, so Echo grabbed the man's closest ankle and used his back and stomach to pull the man over. The man's body sprawled and he slid over to new soldier, the reserved warrior wrapping his arms around the man's neck like a pair of angry pythons.

Alpha team had no idea of what to say while some of other soldiers which included Sargent Stone muttered an awed, "Holy shit!", at what the young man had done and Snake Eyes and General Hawk held their poker faces to not show how impressed they were with the young man.

Echo waited a beat for one of them to tap and when neither did, he tightened his arms and pushed his hips forward. The man in the choke gasped and the make in the lock grunted in pain, both pounding on the floor simultaneously. The moment Echo heard them hit the mats twice, he first let go of the man's neck and then pulled himself up to the man wrapped up in his legs, carefully removing himself. Once he was sure they were both free of him, Echo rolled onto his toes and then sprung backwards; his back arched over so that his hands would hit the floor first and then pushed up as he rolled down to his feet and into a loose stance while the blonde nursed his arm on the floor and the other man rubbed his throat.

"Now that, that was impressive, boy." Heavy Duty said, heavily patting the young man on the back so hard that Echo thought he was going to pitch over. "Anyone else want to give this kid a run?"

Everyone around Echo was muttering and whispering amongst themselves, not really jumping at the chance to go a round with the new Joe addition. "I'll take a swing at him." A female voice called out after nobody else volunteered, Echo looking over to the source of the voice.

A woman with black hair in a tight French braid, keeping her hair from her neck and shoulders and to her head, stepping out from the crowd, a lot of the troops snickering as she pulled her jacket off and cracked her knuckles. Echo couldn't help but see a lot of Abby in this woman, this soldier looked like it could be a future version of his close friend; her physique was well toned, her attractive body offset by her military dressings and violent intentions, a set of intense eyes and a forward attitude. The young man exhaled deeply and began to roll up his sleeves but was confused when the woman pulled two objects out, startled when they extended out three feet.

Echo was at a loss; did he fight her unarmed, with weapons as well or with what he could get; what was the plan here? He glanced from side to side while he hesitantly raised his hands and looked over his shoulder to Heavy Duty and Sargent Stone, his questions and confusion clearly over his face.

"Anybody have a baton to led to Echo?" Heavy Duty asked loudly, but no really jumped at the chance to hand him one or even see if they had one.

"I guess you gonna have to deal with Private Fantis on-"

"Hey! Kid!" Echo whipped around and he just caught the woman's movements in time to react; his right hand down to block a thrust to his stomach and his left arm braced against her forearm to halt her over head strike. "Me, I'm Fantis; I'm your opponent now, not them. So keep your eyes here."

She suddenly bent her left arm at the elbow and it dropped past his guard, the soldier nailing the young man on the shoulder. Echo grunt as he took the brunt of the pain, hooking his left arm over her arm and striking her in the face with a closed palm strike. As she stumbled back and he tried to follow up with another attack, the woman hooked her leg around and the young man leapt away from her surprising attack. She kicked at him again, this time with a front kick to his stomach and Echo tightened his abdominal muscles as he took the brunt of the attack.

The reason for this wasn't to show how strong he was but to keep his hand free and put her off balance, now that she had one foot planted against his stomach. Fantis swung her baton at the young man's head and he bent his knees as he dropped down, hearing the steel stick whistle above his head. She tried to get him on the back swing but Echo grabbed her elbow, stopping it in its place and gave her a knee to her ribs. He gave Fantis credit since she only grunted and tried to swat him with the other baton but he ducked under the strike. The young fighter's free hand went up and across, grabbing her free arm and crossing them over her chest right before he kicked the space between her left ribs and hip.

"Cute, but not that original." Fantis quipped before she vanished.

Well, she didn't vanish. Instead, the soldier had just dropped on the spot into a crouch and slammed the base of the left weapon on his foot, since her left arm was closest to the ground. Echo grunted as the pain shot up through his leg and her right-handed baton then swept his feet out, the young man dropping to the ground with an exaggerated slap. The slap came from letting his hand hit the ground to help break the fall and rolled to his right, kicking one of her knees with the heel of his foot. He brought himself up to his knee and when he saw her trying to stand up, the young fighter grabbed her by the belt and jerked her back to the floor. Fantis fell to one knee and Echo hooked his other arm around her neck and rolled her to the ground so that he was on top.

He caught one swing and then pinned her other arm with his knee, focusing on the arm he hand caught; he had her baton in the pit of his right arm, his right hand on her wrist and his left hand on her elbow. Fantis took advantage of his focus and bucked her hips, knocking Echo over her head. She grimaced as her trapped wrist burned with pain and released the telescopic baton, using her foot to push him further over. Echo rolled over onto his feet and grabbed the handle of the baton, rolling his wrist forward and back to get a feel for the weapon.

Fantis changed her stance up from before, her right side facing him with her right arm crossed over her and her left hand held under her right arm. Echo met her first swing with his baton and then had to immediately drop the weapon to his lower right side when she came through with the follow up attack, Echo taking some steps back as he observed his opponent. Fantis shot her arm out in a straight thrust and Echo tucked himself over, extending his arm in the same attack. The tip of her baton stopped short above his shoulder as his longer arms got to her side faster, the woman snapping the attack away and the younger fighter rolled on floor as she swiped over his head. Fantis pivoted around with a backhanded strike, Echo stepping back from the strike and he then dropped both arms to stop a front kick but she stopped her kick mid strike. Her foot slammed on the mats and the hook her baton right towards the right side of Echo's head, the young man's body recoiling from leaning forward to block.

Echo jerked his head back to avoid the baton but not entirely; while the metal shaft may have missed his right cheek, it caught the left corner of his mouth jerked his head off to the side. Without second thought to his possible injuries, the young man snapped his head back to facing Fantis and brought his steel stick into her right set of ribs with frightening speed. As she caved to the blow, Echo then brought the butt of the weapon, the reverse side of his fist, up and into her chin.

The heavy handed blow knocked her clean from her feet and Fantis landed with a thud, curling into herself as she groaned in pain. Echo just stood there, waiting to see if she was playing possum as he rolled his wrist and spun the baton in the air in patient anticipation. But she didn't get up again; instead she tossed the weapon away from her and Echo nodded, pressing the baton against his thigh. The collapsible weapon folded into itself and he dropped it as he leaned forward to offer his hand, pulling her up once she took his assistance.

"Nice hit, kid. You should fit around here in no time." Fantis said, shaking his hand once she was on her feet and nodded to him. "Might want to get that looked at, cutie."

Echo blinked and touched his cheek, his mouth twitching in pain as his finger brushed over the corner of his mouth. Pulling his hand away, he saw that there was blood on the finger tip and nail of his right index finger and glanced at Fantis. The dark haired woman winked at him as she collected her weapons and then went back to her place in the crowd, Echo looking at his examiner. Heavy Duty and Sargent Stone were looking between each other, trying to decide what to do, so Echo looked aside from them to Snake-Eyes, almost looking for instruction or advice.

Instead of either, the full covered soldier stepped forward and unclipped his combat belt as well as his wrist communicator, setting them down on the floor near Alpha Team and General Hawk. He then removed his sword, sheath and all, and rested it by his other equipment before finally taking his jacket off, folding it neatly. He then walked out onto the mat and stood across from Echo, the crowd around them growing nervously quiet as their faceless instructor stared at the new addition to the Joes. There seemed to be a silent communication between them, Echo nodding and bowing to his Ninjutsu master, which the older fighter returned. They then both took up their stances, Snake-Eyes low and guarded like a boxer while Echo was open stance and loose like a Kung Fu practitioner.

Suddenly, they were off; Snake-Eyes moved first and struck first, pulling one of his student's hands down and giving a closed palm strike to the young fighter face. Echo's head jerked to the side and snapped the flat of his foot to the inside of his master's rear leg, bring them into extremely close quarters. The young man ducked under an elbow and quickly stopped a surprising knee to his chest, stumbling away when his master smashed his other knee to his unprotected side. Echo dropped down and twisted around in the air to give a kick to Snake-Eyes's stomach, the surprising and desperate move knocking the older man to the floor.

Twisting his hips around so that he was facing the ground and then pushed up with his hands, swinging himself around onto his feet like a breakdancer from the street...which is exactly where Echo had learned the move from. As he focused on his master, Snake-Eyes just finished flipping up to his feet and lashed out with two very fast punches. The younger fighter slapped one down to the ground and palmed the other to the side, backing up as his master's body twisted around before swinging a roundhouse kick to his head. Echo leaned away from the kick, jerking his arms up when he saw the following up reverse-roundhouse kick and stunted his master's progression towards him. The man then swung back at him with the left hand, the right and back to the left, Echo keeping his arms up to protect his head. Throwing his shoulder into the middle of his master's back, Echo then shoved the older man forward and didn't see the reverse kick that caught him in the stomach and sent him stumbling backwards to his knees.

The young man rolled forward and then flipped backwards as Snake-Eyes swung another kick at him, stepping in to block the next kick with his right knee. He then kicked the older fighter backwards with a front kick to his chest and groaned in frustration when his elbow strike was blocked by the same attacked. Echo skipped backwards from the storm of punches from his Ninjustsu master and his eyes widened as the older man took to the air, spinning like a black twister. Echo saw the kick coming and braced himself as he used both arms to stop the kick at the end of those spin, his arms and legs shaking from the impact. But blocking that kick left him open and the ninja soldier switched legs to plow him over with a side kick. Echo fell back again but as Snake-Eyes approached, he kicked one of the man's shins back and then swept the other out, both of them on the ground now.

Both rolled to the side and came up on their knees, neither bothering to stand up as they just traded punches from their crouch positions on the floor. Echo primarily defended, but he started to strike the joints of Snake-Eyes as he punched at the young man and the master kept aiming for his student's midsection or his diaphragm. The older man suddenly dropped to his left and Echo immediately dropped to his right, a kick swinging just over his head. He then saw the older man twisting his hips and flipped upwards as a another kick was swung at him, landing in a crouch between the man's legs. Echo felt his master's boot hit his back and used the force to push forward into a handstand, looking his master in the eye before he twisted his hips and kicked the man right in the side of the head.

Snake-Eyes reeled from the blow slightly and Echo bent his arms so that his head touched the ground, rolling down and then up to his feet, breathing heavily as his master stood up. But Snake-Eyes didn't just stand up; he was actually already standing when Echo looked at him and had stepped into Echo's immediate space, swiftly striking three points on his chest which sent shocking pain through his body. The quiet youth yelp with pain and reflexively swung out with his right arm in an attempt to get space from his master. Snake-Eyes blocked the defensive move with his right forearm at his student's elbow and his left palm on Echo's wrist, then wrapping his right arm around the exposed and vulnerable limb while his left hand grabbed the young's shoulder. The military ninja then leapt up and swung his right leg over the boy's head as his other leg hooked around the chest, Snake-Eyes curling his body in.

All Echo felt was a sudden amount of weight and then his body was falling, his back slamming on the mats when he felt something around his chest and neck. When he saw that it was the legs of his master, he realized that Snake-Eyes was giving him an armbar but realized this too late as the older man began to apply pressure. Echo couldn't roll to release the pressure and the leg on his neck had its foot planted on the floor, the sharp pain in his elbow shooting through his entire body. The young man thrashed for a moment but eventually yielded, patting his master's leg. Snake-Eyes released the pressure slowly and crouched near his student, Echo breathing heavily as he caught himself.

"Okay, you guys, shows over!" Came the barking voice of Sargent Stone through the haze of adrenaline that Echo was still flooded with. "You all have training that you need to get on with, lets get to it!"

His right side throbbed from the previous fights and from the knee strike that Snake-Eyes had landed, his face felt a little puffy and swelled from the shots to the face and his chest was really tight from the pressure points that his new master had landed on him. His thighs also felt very tender, from all of the last minute things that he had forced upon his body to do and the sudden need for his acrobatics. Echo sighed as he eased himself up, Snake-Eyes assisting by gently pushing him up from the center of his back.

The young fighter rolled his shoulder in towards his chest and then pressed them back to open up his chest, the tension in his upper body slowly fading. Echo rested a hand on his neck cracking it as he sighed, pulling his legs in and stood slowly. He felt a hand pat his shoulder and he looked at Snake-Eyes, the mute ninja pointing to Echo, tapping his first two finger atop of each other and then give him a thumbs up. The young man blinked for a bit as he tried to figure out what was being said; he knew that it was about himself and that it was good but he was lost at the bit in the middle. He looked up at the masked visor of his teacher and got another pat on the back when the older man patted him on the back.

"Snakes is saying that you did really good, boy." The booming British voice of Heavy Duty explained, the gesture suddenly making sense. "I agree with him, you were pretty impressive. No wonder Snakes took you under his wing."

"Well, I think I was lucky rather than skilled." Echo said fairly, the confusion in Heavy Duty's face mirrored by his master's head tilting. "Well, most of those guys thought I was a kid and thought that they should take it easy on me, whereas I went in thinking I can't give quarter to anyone. Talbot didn't have to give me that opening and Williams didn't slam me but gave a safe tackle. They could have been a lot harder, like Fantis did."

"Mm, I see your point and not to mention that Fantis comes from a different kind of background than most here, so she she would run you to the ground."

"What do you mean?" That just added to his confusion.

"Her old man runs a stick fighting dojo, doing something called Escrima, and she was part of military riot police before she came here." Heavy Duty explained, Echo feeling the air leave him.

"See? I was lucky." He said, the older man sharing chuckle with Echo and the youth gestured to silent Snake-Eyes. "And then I had to spar with my master and he wiped the floor with me. I probably barely tickled those muscles of his with my half-ass tricks."

"Well, be that as it may be, you still held on longer than others have and at least the others look like they had a hell of session for once." Heavy Duty said encouragingly, Snake-Eyes nodding with the words that the taller man said and the Brit then clapped Echo on the back with laugh. "Aren't you glad we did the firearms test before this and not after?"

Echo smiled broadly and nodded, looking up when he saw that Sargent Stone was beckoning to him to come over to him. He respectively bowed to his master and shook Heavy Duty's hand before jogging over to Sargent stone, pulling his hoodie over his still warm body. He had no idea what they would want from him next but it would be better to be safe and take care of his muscles rather than injure them and be sorry.

* * *

As the young man trotted off to Stone, Snake-Eyes released a breath he had been slightly holding and pressed his palm to his stomach. Now that his own adrenaline was wearing down, he could feel his new student's sneak attack a lot more and was lucky that his abdominal muscles were so heavily conditioned. Had they not been, then he knew he would have been facing a chipped or a completely broken rib rather than the deep bruising he would be suffering. He had been caught unaware because it was so uncommon for someone to be able to manage twisting themselves around and give power to their kick while falling to the floor.

Also that unorthodox kick to his head was not to be ignored either; to leap or to even fall into a sustained handstand was impressive but to manage to co-ordinate your body to twist forward and then back with a kick without falling or injuring yourself was even more so amazing. Perhaps it had been a one time fluke or it was a result of his dedicated training, but the ninja master knew that he would be foolish to not encourage his student to explore such a fashion of fighting. It was a shame that he didn't take advantage of his kicking abilities but he had shown very impressive tenacity and diversity with his background of three arts and no military training against the elite in the armed forces.

But there was another confusing aspect of the young man that was weighing on the military ninja master...

"So, Snakes, I take it the kid managed to get a good hit on you then." Heavy Duty said mischievously, his remark not a statement but rather a tactful observation.

_He actually got two good hits on me. I underestimated his creativity and his willingness to take risks in a fight._ Snake-Eyes admitted, smiling under his mask and giving a slight shrug. _I think that maybe his potential is broader than what his previous teachers thought_.

"What do you mean by that? I thought this kid came recommend because he was the top of the class." Heavy Duty asked, now confused about the youth.

_Well, he was in a way. He was a very disciplined and respectful student who was willing to sacrifice his progression for a respect to the arts that he trained in_. Snake-Eyes said, his hands moving ever so smoothly._ I think, however, that there might be more to it. He trained for twelve years, with such incredible focus and drive but his ranks don't reflect that_.

"How so?"

_He should be a second degree black belt in more than one art, not just a simple black belt. Not with the skills that we saw here today. It first registered to me when I discovered that he became a red belt in Ninjutsu in under three years, though the master felt that he could have been a black belt_. Snake-Eyes said, watching as Sargent Stone and Echo walked towards the vehicle bay. _I understood that he was attending school at the time, but he was also registering close to four hours every day of the week and six hours on weekends at the dojo without fail._

"So he managed to earn a high ranking belt in a certain art. Maybe it was just better suited to him." Heavy Duty suggested, the masked man shaking his head. "Some people just respond to different areas or different methods better than others."

_The Art of the Ninja is a very complex art and takes many people their entire lives to master, myself taking close to four years to earn my black belt and I was consider a child genius by the Arashikage Clan_. The ordinance expert slowly started to realize what his shorter friend was implying. _So explain how he achieved a red belt in one of the oldest arts under a master I studied with in three years but then only a second dan black belt and a black sash in twelve years with other styles_?

"...I...I've got nothing for you, Snakes." Heavy Duty said honestly, his big arms folding over his chest and he looked to his friend in serious contemplation. "Are you going to ask about it?"

_I may. It's not really a serious concern but it does raise certain questions about Echo. I know that he had trouble with some classmates that treated him rather roughly but something that petty would be the last thing to slow him down_. Snake-Eyes admitted, his hand pressing against his stomach again and he sighed slightly more heavily. He then caught Heavy Duty smiling at him and cocked his head in confusion. _What is it?_

"Its nothing really, but..." Heavy Duty chuckled and patted the smaller man in a brotherly fashion before he continued. "I think that you made the right call in taking this kid under your wing. And funnily enough, he's pretty much exactly what I pictured you to be like as a teenager."

Snakes thought about it, his mouth slowly spreading into a smile and he scoffed before nodding his head and moving to teach his next class of unarmed combat. Heavy Duty called out a farewell as he hurried to catch up to Stone and Echo and Snakes waved his hand over his head in acknowledgment, watching as the next group of soldiers gathered at the mats. He was confident that his student would be fine while he took this class and would catch up with him at the obstacle course after his vehicle testing and lunch. Seeing everyone ready to begin, Snake-Eyes took the floor and gestured for the highest ranked soldier to help him demonstrate, thinking that a refresher in grappling might be needed...

* * *

Echo rubbed his neck as he followed Sargent Stone into the mess hall, his body still groaning from the sparring matches and the heavy weights he lifted beforehand. Now that he was slightly cooler, all the strain of his muscles was coming back to him and he felt a little stiff as he stood in line for food. He quietly collected his food and followed Sargent Stone to a relatively empty table, glancing about as he took his seat.

"So, hows the first day been, kid?" Sargent Stone asked him as Echo tucked into his food.

"Mm, it's not too bad. I like the challenges that I'm getting, though I think driving is something I need a lot more practice at." Stone rolled his eyes as he chuckled and Echo had to smile; the man had been in the jeep with Echo when he took it for a spin and they both agreed that it was not one of Echo's more...refined talents.

"Yeah, I think we'll just keep you as a passenger for a little while longer." The drill sargent verbally jabbed and shook his head. "Oh man, I don't think I've ever felt that uneasy in a car in my whole life."

"Oh please, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

"I think I may have gotten some gray hairs from it, so yes."

"Ah, you just a sissy then." Echo quipped and Stone gave him a mocking glare.

"Hey, hey, watch it. I still got to give your obstacle course evaluation today." Stone teasingly threatened and Echo shrugged.

"Should be fun then." Echo decided and smiled at the scoff that Stone gave him, tapping his foot as he thought about his day. "So, what else do I have left to do?"

Stone's face took on a contemplative look, Echo taking the time to savor some of the food while the drill sargent thought things over. "Hmm, let's see...obstacle course, stealth, um, swimming and I think you'll get an introduction to logistics today."

Echo nodded, wondering what the obstacle course could be like and he would have asked the drill sargent if a woman didn't come over and catch both of their attentions. "Sargent Stone? I have some inquiries and results that General Hawk would like you to overlook."

"Yup, I'll be right there." Stone said with a slightly exaggerated sigh and patted Echo on the arm. "No rest for the wicked, eh kid?"

"Apparently not." Echo agreed and tapped fists with Stone. "I'll see you after lunch, Sargent."

"See you at the obstacle course." Stone called as he left the table.

Echo waved to the back of the drill sargent and resumed eating his lunch, musing over the events that had happened to him today. It was a lot more than what he had initially expected but at the same time it was a little like what he thought this would have been like. It was his first day and they were taking it relatively easy on him because he was new to the military but it was still hard work. He was solidly exhausted after everything that he had been doing, especially after the sparring, and he was glad that he was getting a chance to take a break before he just jumped right into the obstacle course.

Now that was something that he was looking forward to, especially given the technology that he had seen all around him so far. If they had a course with the holographic technology and the touch responsive screens or textures that he had been seeing so far, then the course could possible react and alter to him as he progressed through it and that would be amazing. It would thoroughly suck to be sprinting down the course as it rearranges or even attacks him, but it would still be an absolutely amazing application of the technology that this military base seemed to overflowing with.

Echo paused in his chewing, considering what other educational possibilities there would be for him and wondered if he would be able to learn a bit more about the technical aspects of the facilities. Then maybe he would be able to dim that damn LCD screen mounted in his room. But as he thought of learning and lessons, he wondered what Snake-Eyes had in store for him next, the master very hard to predict in Echo's mind. He possessed a similar asymmetrical thought process as Dogen, where he connected random things together and incorporated dozens of lessons withing a single action. It made him a little terrifying because of his professional specialty and his physical prowess.

There was no doubt that he looked up the older man and he did wish to follow in his footsteps a bit because it was an amazing possibility. He could become a master of the ninja arts and use the skills that he had religiously strengthened for a good purpose, defending his home. If that wasn't a worthwhile pursuit, then he-

"So...who did you bribe to get here?"

Echo blinked as he was interuppted in his musings and glanced to his right, slightly surprised to see Talbot standing there. He then let the words really sink in and turned to the older soldier as he his brow furrowed, pushing his tray aside.

"I'm sorry, but what did you say?"

"I asked who did you bribe or blackmail to get on this base?" Talbot sneered as he spoke, folding his arms over his chest. "I mean, that seems to be the standard fashion that new people get in nowadays and your not even military trained."

"Look, I don't know about the people that came in before me, but I was recruited by Snake-Eyes after a recommendation by my old master." Echo explained, trying to defuse the situation.

"Oh really? Huh, I wonder how long it will take you to get assigned to a squad or for you to get promoted to one of the alpha teams." Talbot rhetorically mused and the overrode any answer that Echo could have given. "I mean, you were handpicked by Snake-Eyes himself, so that I guess that makes you better than all of us."

"I didn't say that, you're just jumping to conclusions." The younger man said trying to reason with as he became aware that the entire mess hall was watching them. "I'm here on a probationary conditions-"

"Yeah, we know all about those 'probation conditions', kid. Last two cowboys that had those attached to their files were lobbed into Alpha squad within twenty-four hours, so its only a matter of time before your barking orders at us."

"Ease up, Talbot." Echo and the older soldier both turned to see Fantis leaning against her table as she watched them with irritated interest. "You're just sore cause a kid whose about ten years younger than you managed to get the better of you on mats."

"Can it, Fantis!" Talbot spat, his blue eyes burning as he glared at her. "I seem to recall this runt wiping the floor with you too! Only reason this wet-nose punk got the drop on me cause I took it easy on him."

The younger man felt his face flushing in embarrassment at being the focus of this argument and felt his hands tightening at the words that Talbot was tossing around, his mouth curling in a sneer. "Yeah, that was your mistake not his, Talbot." Fantis said with a drawl, shrugging as she glanced at the person they were arguing about. "I mean, you can tell by looking at him that he's not gonna be your normal opponent and I got a sneak-peek thanks to Williams."

"Pft, the kid was just lucky." Talbot scoffed, his next words turning Echo so cold that ice would have felt scorching. "Just cause he's sucking Snake-Eyes off to get his place here, doesn't mean he's actually a student of the man. He probably learned some stupid Tae Kwon Doe off some hillbilly hicks and idolized that UFC crap."

Fantis sharply glanced at Echo, who was almost blankly staring into the space before him and then slowly stood up. Talbot kept his eyes on the younger man as he picked up his drink and sipped on the water slowly as he walked away from the table. The quiet young man set the glass down on the steel table and slid it towards to his tray as he wiped his mouth. He could take the trash talking about himself, he was well past used to the verbal diarrhea bullshit from others and thought it was normal.

But no one, not a single soul within striking range, ever talked smack about his masters. Ever.

"If you're so upset by the fact that you weren't ready for the fight, lets have a rematch then." Tobias said gently flexing his shoulders back and forth as he spoke. "I mean, you must have a good grasp of my skills after watching me and Snake-Eyes spar, so what have you got to loose?"

"Alright, kid. Just keep in mind that I won't go easy on you this time." Talbot said as he pulled his service jacket off and lifted his hands up.

However, Talbot was unaware of how infuriated Echo was with the man before him because of the disrespectful words he had spoken about his masters and decided that he would give the man what he wanted. As soon as Talbot's hands were by his chin, Echo shot forward in a black and white blur and the older man was taken back when Echo simultaneously blocked his hook punch with his forearm and delivered an elbow to Talbot's solar plexus. This was the perfect target because it robbed his opponent's of their air and took away fifty percent of their strength when struck with enough force. It was an ideal and strategic spot to strike, especially with a conditioned soldier like Talbot who was use to taking unguided punches to his gut.

The sudden gasp from the tattooed man was the perfect signal for Echo because it told him that Talbot was breathless and he was caught off-guard; pivoting around towards Talbot's outstretched arm and grasping it with both hands, Echo effortlessly tossed the man over his shoulder with a well timed hip throw.

Talbot landed hand but he had a good recovery but Echo was already moving in for the finish. As Talbot spun around and stood up, Echo was stepping forward and dropping down. He then palmed on of the man's knees out to the side, punched the inside of his opposite thigh and then struck both hips at their connecting joint, effectively taking Talbot's legs away from him. As Talbot's legs gave way and he began to crumple, Echo shot up and leaped straight up, lifting his right leg as he vertically rose up.

The hard conditioned knee of Echo met the unsuspecting stomach of Talbot and the older soldier crumpled to the side, his face red as he tried to get his breath in with short-sharp gasps while Echo took long deep breaths to calm himself down. There were just some things that he couldn't stand and having someone verbally cut down his master was a very quick way to get on his shit-list.

"Damn, kid, you really don't do things by half measures, do ya?" The amused tone in Fantis's voice surprised Echo, especially when it came from right over his shoulder. He glanced at her, seeing that she was shaking her head at Talbot. "I'm not all that surprised since Talbot tends to speak before he thinks and doesn't like being shown up."

"Probably wasn't the smartest thing that I could have done, to be honest." Echo said in a slight mumble, only to get a light punch in his shoulder by the female soldier.

"You stood up for yourself and showed him, and the rest of us, that you ain't gonna take any shit from us. Not a bad approach in the long run of things." Fantis said, gesturing for him to take a seat and she sat opposite him, shrugging slightly. "Short term it might be a problem, but you should be fine as far things go."

Echo blinked. "Aside from the ass I just kicked, who is going to get annoyed with me?"  
"Heh, good one, kid." Fantis chuckled at the younger man's joke and she shrugged. "I think you might get disciplinary warning from General Hawk or Sargent Stone and Snake-Eyes might have a word...or a sentence with you, but nothing that serious. You weren't technically in the wrong."

"Depends really..." Echo's half-spoken, half-mumbled comment was none the less caught by Fantis.

"On what?" He looked at her in confusion and she rolled her eyes. "Depends on what?"

"Depends on the point of view you take." Echo clarified, shrugging as her confused look. "I could get in trouble to being childish enough to rise to Talbot's challenges, or it could be seen that I instigated his first attack by rushing him like that and played on his responses, or maybe Hawk would see me abusing my position Snake-Eyes apprentice."

Fantis raised a curious brow. "That's a rather well-thought and intricate thought process you have there..."

"I was an orphan in a school with privileged kids that I over-passed at every test." Echo explained, fiddling with the edge of his tray. "I'm used to people to finding very inventive reasons for me being the culprit."

* * *

"_I'm used to to people to finding very inventive reasons for me being the culprit._" Echo's voice sounded grainy as it came through the speakers at the security station in the command room. The technical and security analyst technician that sat in the seat was Elisa Edwards, or more commonly called Cyber by the other technicians and soldiers that she worked with. And she was used to working with them, but she wasn't used to the audience that was gathered behind her.

Namely that the presence of General Hawk, the silent form of Snake-Eyes, the looming Heavy Duty and the scowling Sargent Stone. She pushed her glasses up her nose and fingered an imaginary lock of brown hair behind her ear as she fine focused the security angles for those around her.

"That lousy rat...I'm gonna hang Talbot out to dry for what he did." Stone growled, Cyber gulping slightly when she heard his knuckles popping.

"Wait till he's at the obstacle course. After the stunt he pulled with Echo, I'll gladly ensure some bruises are given to him." The promise of injury from the large British man wasn't unusual but he didn't tend to take to newcomers so well.

"At ease, soldiers. It seems that Echo took care of the problem on his own and I think the humiliation of having someone younger than him beat him twice is going to sting more than any punishment we could think up." The words that the General spoke made a lot of sense to Cyber but didn't mean she had to like them.

The guy that Talbot had provoked, a young man that the others had called Echo, was still sitting with Private Madison Fantis, codename Whiplash, but now they had been joined by two other soldiers in her unit and their conversation wasn't as audible now as it had been before; Cyber switched cameras and zoomed in slightly so she could see his face a little better. His face was lean and he had a significant weathered and worn tone to his facial features, but you could definitely tell that he was a fighter.

Though the funny thing was that Elisa was twenty four, putting her three years Echo's senior but she never would have guessed by looking at him. Just from looking at him and from listening to the way that he spoke in the conversations, she felt that he would have been older than her by two or three years at least and most certainly not be younger.

"I agree, Snakes. I think we should hold off on the rest of the physical testings for today and have either Lifeline or Psyche-Out have a sit down with him." Heavy Duty's voice made her jump slightly and she glanced over her shoulder to the four men behind her. "I would like to have a better understanding of what's happened with this kid before we do something that triggers a reaction we don't want."

"Agreed. I'll have Psyche-Out free up his schedule for the earliest time possible and Snake-Eyes, I want you to talk to him an see if you can't figure out some of the blanks in his life." Hawk assigned, Cyber gnawing the corner of her lip in thought. "You're right; somethings just aren't adding all the way up with this kid and I would rather keep him that loose him. As for you, Heavy Duty..." And Cyber tuned out of what was being said.

She couldn't help but stare at this Echo as he stood to leave and pulled his sweatshirt on, his piercing eyes almost like that of a snake in the grass that was waiting to hunt for prey.

Two "Yes, sir's" chimed out and Cyber looked up at General Hawk, who sighed and rubbed his face. "Is everything alright, sir?"

"Private Edwards, have you ever known that someone younger than you had been through hard times but had no idea of how to help them?" The older man asked her, the young woman licking her lips as she looked back to the screen.

"I used to, until she and I swapped places. Then I realized nothing could help, everything only made it worse." Elisa answered softly, hesitating before looking back at the General.

He looked at her like a grandfather who realized that he really didn't know the lives of the grandchildren that lived around him and he was beginning to realize the enormity of the weight that had been unfortunately place in their lives. He realized that dysfunction and traumatized lives were just as easy to find as healthy lives. "Hmm, not really an encouraging answer, soldier."

"Sir, sorry, sir." Cyber said quickly as she turned back to the screen and removed the security feed, jumping back into the work that she had been doing. Until she felt a heavy hand rest on her shoulder, her speedy typing halting mid-keystroke.

"Any insight is helpful, Private Edwards. Thank you." The older man said, patting her shoulder before he nodded. "As you were, Cyber."

Elisa smiled and turned back to her screen, her fingers soon dancing over the keyboard. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Having be told by Sargent Stone to wait in his quarters until his new master arrived, Echo was doubting the assured words of Fantis a little. He stood in the middle of his room and wondered what he should be doing, glancing over his shoulder at the door as he heard someone walk down the hallways and then past his room. Sighing, he crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his right hand up to cup his chin as he contemplated his next move when he spotted his duffel bag sticking out from under his bed and it sort of haphazardly and nonchalantly suggested what he could do.

"Might be nice to unpack a bit." The young man said to himself as he unwrapped his arms and stepped forward.

Pulling the bag out, he tossed it onto his bed and unzipped it to examine the chaotic mess that was left from his previous attempt to be neat. He started with a collection of four or five books, scooping them up and placing them on the left corner of his desk, seating them right under his table light. As he placed them on his desk, he opened the left drawer of his desk and went and retrieved his notebooks. After he had placed them away in the desk, he began to pull out his clothes, grouping them in orders of shirts, undergarments and pants as well as refolding them,

Many of the other orphans and Ian had noted that Echo seemed to have obsessive compulsion disorder, in where everything around him had to neat and in some semblance of order. But the only reason that he did order and fold things a specific way was because he liked to know where things were and by cleaning up his room and other such places, it felt like he was cleaning up his thought process. He organized his clothes in the closet that he had, humorously noting just how little his clothes filled, and then began to pull his various copied CDs that Ian had supplied him with over the years when he paused.

There was a box in his bag, drawn shut with red ribbons and hand-painted Kanji inscribed across it.

Echo set the CDs down on his bed in a heap and picked the case up, the grain of the sanded and painted wood filled with a weight in it. He carried it to his desk, taking a seat as he rested the case on the desk and just looked at it. Master Dogen had given him box just before he left the orphanage, telling him that he was ready to explore more talents within Ninjutsu. Echo had been far too nervous to open it on the ride to the Pitt and he had just lost track of the gift that his master had bestowed upon him but now there was no real excuse. But it was the character that Echo knew his master had inscribed on the wood and why he had placed it on the box that made him reluctant to open the box.

Echo only knew a little Japanese thanks to Dogen and he had been learning to read Kanji thanks to him and his Wushu Sifu, so he was able to recognize the painted character. It translated into "precision", a crucial aspect of the martial arts and an area of training of Ninjutsu that all students were to have before they progressed past their white belt. As he slowly untied the ribbons wrapped around the box, the reserved fighter could feel anxiety twisting inside him. Almost like the snake known as fear had wrapped around his heart and sunk its long fangs into his confidence and assurance. Because this was something that Dogen had given him, showing that he recognized him as a student that he could place his trust in and someone whose skills he recognized.

To open this gift was to accept that recognition and Echo wasn't sure he was ready to believe that yet.

He pulled the ribbons free from the box and then tentatively lifted the lid of the box, gulping slightly. He then relaxed when he saw a letter, picking it up and unfolding it. The handwriting of Dogen was immaculately neat and from just scanning the first few sentences, Echo could tell his master had an excellent grasp of the English language. Adjusting his desk lamp, the student began to read.

_Dear Tobias, _

_ I have been your master for three years, a seemingly short amount of time that seems so much long than what it really is. I have watched your growth in my arts and refine them constantly, setting a true example of what it means to be a practitioner of Ninjutsu. I can say without any concern in my heart that you will succeed with furthering your current skills in the arts and I believe you might one day succeed me as a weapons master._

_ I understand that you are most comfortable with the bladed weapons and the staff weapons, showing great skill with them. However, I am unable to give you a sword as a gift as that is something given to a holder of the higher black belts and in recognition of their devotion to the study of the sword. Instead, I have enclosed a weapon that I meant to introduce you to but you should be able to grasp the basic mechanics on your own and Snake-Eyes will be able to help you refine your technique._

_ In closing, I just want to say that I am very proud to have been your master and watching you progress has been one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. Thank you for following the path that brought us together and for it leading me to one of my most promising students I have ever taught._

_ Yours Sincerely,_

_ Motou Dogen._

A smile spread across his face as he finished reading the letter, folding it thoughtfully as reflected on his master's words. He had always heard Dogen give him praise and he always silently accepted the words with humility, but he didn't know the full extent of what his master's opinion of him was. Sighing with an almost foreign sense of contentment and happiness, Echo tucked the letter into the lid of the box so he wouldn't lose it and then looked into the other half of the box to see what he had been given.

The base of the box was coated with a dark red velvet, with almost a padded section under the fabric and atop of the wood frame. A chain was coiled in the center of the box and the two ends were hooked into the center of the coils. One end had what looked like a weight that he normally found on Wushu chain whips but this one wasn't covered in a bright cloth and was at least twice the thickness of the chain. The other end of the chain had a knife on a reinforced hoop, the blade length a little shorter than four inches and the handle of the knife a little longer than two and a half inches. Echo reached in the box and took a hold of the leather wrapped weapon, taking in the slight weight and the pulled that the chain had on the pommel.

As he pulled the blade up and fed the chain through one of his hands, Echo thought of how using such a weapon would be best down. On the one hand, he could use it in a similar fashion to a chain whip but with a greater focus to one end than the other and its defense again spears and swords might be better than that of a rigid weapon. But then again, it had the application of short edged weapon and a trapping weapon where he could get close and entangle his opponent's with the chain while applying the use of the knife.

As he moved the knife around in his hand and pulled the rest of the chain out, Echo was surprised to note that there were more papers under the gift from his master. Resting his new weapon on the table, the young man picked up the papers and was surprised to find that it looked and felt like a manuscript. As he turned the small booklet over in his hands, it he could feel the texture of older paper mixed in with new pages and the bindings that held the paper together looked fresh, like they had recently been replaced. With slight trepidation and a great deal of excitement, Echo opened the small booklet to the first page.

_Tobias, _

_ The weapon that I have given you is known as the kusarigama, one of my countries traditional weapons. Its name means "chained sickle" and the bladed weapon attached is normally a kama, a traditional Japanese field sickle. However, the knife is an adjustment the Koga-Ryu made when they adapted it into their forms because it was easier to conceal and the adjustments to forms and the weapon made the stlye of this weapon much more deadly. When the Arashikage developed off from the Koga-Ryu, we followed their weapon system very closely and this was one of the weapons we have adopted directly and has remained unchanged since it was integrated. I also felt that you would be more comfortable if the chain was attached to a weapon that you wear familiar with rather than one you rarely use._

_ This manuscript contains all the forms and katas that are associated with the kusarigama, all the way from the bare basics to the master levels of this weapon. I have inserted translations and have updated the information thanks to the years of experience I have had as the Arashikage weapon's master. This manuscript is a family heirloom and the only request is that once you have either completely mastered this weapon or you feel you are about to perish and cannot guarantee this books safety, that you please have it returned to my family in the Arashikage Clan._

_I trust you now to blossom and develop your new weapon with your new master, for you are to become something truly unique. I trust you to find that uniqueness._

_ Motou Dogen._

Callused finger tips gently stroked the edge of the page, Echo looked at the weapon curiously and traced the groove in the metal of the blade. "A kusarigama, huh?" The quiet students said softly to the silent weapon, taking the handle of the knife and lifting it up. "I guess we're going to be getting to know each other very well. Maybe I'll even figure out what to name you one day."

He set the weapon down and licked the tip of his finger, leaning back in his chair while propping his feet up. With the manuscript carefully cradled in his hands, Echo began to read over the ancient and new texts that had been bestowed to him.

* * *

The silent figure of Snake-Eyes led a curious Echo through the Joe's complex, his sword handle extending above the jacket collar. He had been told by his new master that the rest of the evaluations would be finished up another day and that he wanted to speak with the young man about something instead. He wore a shoulder pack that had his new weapon in it, being hopeful that he would get the chance to experiment with before he retired for the night and possibly even ask Snake-Eyes for some advice. Echo was understandably uneasy with that delivery of news but at the same time, he didn't feel that he was in trouble but was rather being taken somewhere for his master to either gain insight to him or for them have a quiet lesson.

The young man noted briefly that they passed where his sleeping quarters were and were going down a section that was noted for being the recreational room for the Alpha teams as well as the smaller, more cardio based gyms and the briefing rooms. Echo guessed right as they veered to the right and entered a somewhat deserted room, with the exception of Breaker working on some new electronics. Snake-Eyes paused and glanced around the room, pointing towards a table with plastic chess pieces before they sat down at the table.

Chess was a game that Echo had learned from his buddy Ian, the smarter kid hooking his more physical friend into the game by telling him that the strategic board game could be used in everyday life. He had been exaggerating things with that statement but he did see the game in a lot of his fights, the three phases of the chess game occasionally linking up nicely with a few of his fights. Echo pulled the sleeves of his shirt up as Snake-Eyes removed his sword and gloves before taking a clear plastic pawn and cloudy pawn, hiding his hands before he held out his hands to his apprentice.

"Hmm, left hand, sir." Echo said, as he tapped the left hand.

The older man opened the hand that his student choose, the small cloudy piece resting in his palm and Echo turned the board around so his pieces were in front of him. His master tossed the cloudy piece in the air and the student smiled as he caught it, the older man shaking in a chuckle as his student set the piece down. Snake-Eyes briefly studied the board before he moved the pawn before his queen out two spaces while Echo removed his shoulder pack and he took his notepad out as his student pondered his next move, Echo glancing up at him as he moved a knight out from the left side of his board.

The master nodded his head repeatedly as he thought and made his next move, the apprentice patiently waiting and trying to learn from the developing game. As Breaker looked over at the silent game that taking place, even the technical genius was able to see the bonds of teacher and student in his close friend and the young man that had joined them. He smiled, relishing in the similar bond that he too had with Cyber. Respecting the privacy between the two, he returned to work as they got to know each other.


	5. Echolocation

Echolocation

"Aw man….dammit; I didn't even see that coming." To anyone that might have been in the recreation room of the Alpha team, they would have thought that a couple of teenagers had been playing on a game system of some description and that one of them had just lost the game they were.

Instead, there was Snake-Eyes sitting with his arms smugly folded over his chest while his apprentice was pushing his hair back, a somewhat bare chess board between them that the young man was playfully glowering at. To the untrained eye, it didn't look like much but to those that knew chess, could see that Snake-Eyes had locked Echo's king in the left corner with his two rooks and used his bishop to apply pressure. The masked ninja scrawled something out and tossed the pad to Echo, who caught it with a playful snatch and he spun the pad around so he could read the written note.

_We can work on your game later and Breaker is a very good teacher when it comes to chess._

"That's cool. I mean, chess never really was my thing to be honest, Snakes-Eyes." Echo admitted, handing the pad back to his master. "My friend back home taught it to me so we could pass the time and since he went off to university, I just never really played it since."

The commando ninja nodded slowly, in a fashion that Echo felt was an understanding gesture and the young man picked up a cloudy Knight piece, turning the piece over thoughtfully in his hands. Echo liked this piece for some reason, either the design of the object or the symbolism that the character entailed, but it was a fun piece on the board, always having to move in a L. It was the most unique piece on the board and no other piece was able to mick its approach or attack patterns, so it was great for blindsiding as well.

The young fighter grinned slightly childishly; maybe it was because the piece fought the same way he did, that he liked it so much.

Sitting back, Echo pulled his backpack up from the floor and pulled the box that Master Dogen had given him, setting it one the table. After dropping his bag back on the floor, he opened the box up and pulled the chain out, taking a moment to study the links that made up the chain. It was different from the Wushu chain whip as that weapon had three circular links and then a long piece of metal with hoops; this one was just made up of a small, reinforced steel links for the entire body of the chain. Wrapping the chain around both hands, he gave the metal a solid, jerking tug to feel the tensile strength and smiled as he didn't feel any of the links kink or give at all.

Echo was suddenly aware of his new master's presence and he looked up to see Snake-Eyes tilting his head to the side, his gaze clearly on box and on the chain. The younger martial artist suddenly felt as though he had been incredibly rude to the man that had brought him to his new home and new life, regardless of how temporary that may be.

"Sorry, sir. Master Dogen gave this to me before I left and I've just gotten the chance to opened it." Echo explained, relaxing when his new master waved away his concern and just pointed to the box and the chain. "This? Um, I'm not sure about how to pronounce it, but its name is a Kursi-…Kursagama?"

His master must have known what he was talking about because he nodded slowly and Echo offered the chain to him, the older man taking with a small bow of the head. As he moved the chain around his hands, Snake-Eye paused and then wrote down something on his notepad and slid it to Echo.

_How much experience do you have with this weapon?_

"Uh, none really. I used the chain whip in Wushu and a short blade like this one in Hapkido," Echo removed the knife in its scabbard and showed his master the blade, before continuing. "but I've never used the two at the exact same time or as one object."

Whatever his master was about to write or express was interrupted by his wrist communicator, a chime sounding off and both fighters looked to the object. Snake Eyes pressed a button and he shrugged as he read the message on his arm, quickly putting a line through what he was writing at the time and replaces with a different message.

_Sorry, Echo. It looks like I'm needed for some reports with General Hawk. _

_If you not here when I'm done, I'll meet you at your quarters in two hours or so, okay?_

"Cool, I'll see you there, Master." Echo agreed and began to reset the board when he thought of something. "Oh, Snake-Eyes? Would it be alright if I practice some techniques with the chain and knife?"

The fully covered soldier nodded to his student and gestured to the empty sparring mats that were pretty much in the middle of the recreation room, indicating that that he was allowed to use the space for his training. Echo bowed his head and his master left the room after returning it, the young man leaving the chest set before going to stand in the middle of the open space.

He held the short knife in his right hand and his chain in left hand, trying to decide where he should be starting, sighing because he wasn't ready to start combining the two into a totally foreign that he was unaware of how to use. Walking to the edge of the mats, he deposited his bag there and rested his weapons down as he pulled his sweatshirt off before picking them up again. As he approached the center of the space again, he spun the sheathed knife in his hand and then slid it into his belt behind his back. Once he was satisfied with the placement of the bladed weapon, the young martial artist pulled the chain taunt between his two hands and spread his legs into a long horse stance.

When he had been training in Wushu and Hapkido, he never chose to favor a weapon over another; the only reason he was so flexible and well practiced with the sword was because, along with the staff and the knife, it was one of the most universally common weapon in traditional martial arts, the specifics and detail were things truly differed. As he trained in Wushu, he well known in his old classes for using double weapons and soft weapons as his default and had always tried to remain as traditional to the forms as possible.

But when it came to open practice or when he was told to take a Sanshou approach...well, things changed drastically.

Sanshou was an aspect of Wushu that generally applied to the sparring or as it name translated to of "free fighting". This meant that you could just apply the techniques to what you were doing but it was done in a fashion that allowed to you use the moves in your own style. When his old teachers let Echo use that principle with weapon practice, they eventually had to ban him from sparring his classmates after he received his black sash.

Echo closed his eyes and cleared the room from his minds eye, envisioning that he was free to fight a group of people on his own and that each movement had to finish his opponents. He snapped his back legs and his hands came together, traveling in an arc over his right as it went around his head and then came down in a diagonal swiped. As his hands passed his waist, his left hand shot above his head and the chain was pulled into a quivering straightness as the sudden tension made the chain shake continually.

His lower hand released the links and his upper hand whipped the length of metal over his head. Twisting his wrist around, his arms pivoted around in what would have been a reckless uppercut and the chain was like a serpent of steel as it weaved around him into a vicious swipe in front of him. He then swung the chain around his head, pivoted around and then whipped the chain around again at waist height. As the chain wrapped round him from the left, he pivoted into the chain from the right and as the chain reached the end of it tether, he leaped. His body spun in a full rotation before his left foot swept around in a roundhouse kick, the tail of the whistling in the air as he moved.

He landed in a firm horse stance, his right hand catching the other tail as it came around and he then wrapped the tails in on the coils around his waist. Hooking the tails into his belt, he then reached back and grabbed the handle of the short knife, feeling the weapon able to move freely. That meant he had the height right when he wrapped the chain weapon around him, pulling the the blade free from it sheath.

His index finger hooked in the hoop that was attached to the pommel of the knife, a slight flick in wrist all it took to make the blade start spinning around as his arms entered his peripheral vision. It looked like he had a circular saw in his hand until he caught the handle with the blade in a reverse grip and he brought the weapon around with his arm making a hook punch, leaning forward as the blade passed forward.

Once the knife was on his other side, he leaned further forward and Echo rolled on the floor, slashing out as he stopped in a kneeling position. In his minds eyes, he was at hip height for the average man and that cut had just struck his opponent's knee. He then rotated his wrist over, stabbing his imaginary enemy in the thigh and grabbing him behind the neck. Pushing off with his feet, he and his "opponent" rolled over until Echo was now on top of him, making three quick stabs to the lungs and then a cut to the right side of the neck, where the artery would have been.

Echo then leaped straight up and flipped backs in the air, landing on his feet with a gentle bounce in his knees. He used the blade to block high and then low, giving a roundhouse kick to where someone's head might be. As he came around, he gave a front kick, switching himself so he was side on and gave a side kick immediately afterward. When his foot touched the ground, he did a handless cartwheel to the side he had just kicked and just before his first foot touched the ground, his second leg gave another side kick that would have floored his opponent for sure. Well, unless it was that Williams guys again.

Echo had a chuckle at that and changed grip so that the knife was in a forward grip, starting his knife to knife defenses. Of course, he spiced the moves with acrobatics when he could.

"Damn politicians..." Hawk grumbled, as he looked over a bill that was going to be put through congress. Apparently, some Senator by the name of Martin Rask was trying to push for the

* * *

military to sanction all of it special operations through the senate instead of just the president and that all funding was to be decided by the Senate as well.

If that happened, the very safety of his teams could be jeopardized and the very point of G.I. Joe would be compromised. They were supposed to operate behind the scenes and with only the knowledge of the world leaders, the world never supposed to know how close it came to devastation or the resulting panic would be intense.

The general looked up and wasn't surprised to see Snake-Eyes inside his office, the ninja commando bowing to his superior. He was never sure how Snake-Eyes got into most places that he did or how he got past the security systems of the Pitt as times, but he wasn't about to question the intensely private man. His abilities had saved hundreds of people and so he was willing to look the other way when it came to some of the masked man's methods.

"Snake-Eyes." Hawk gestured to a seat in front of his desk. "How's Echo doing?"

_Well, he seems to be taking everything in well enough_ Snake-Eyes singed, the four star general clicking on a video feed and the young man finished doing a complex kick that made him land on his back. Echo sprung to his feet with a flip, not even missing a beat like he had planned for it to happen.

"Well, at least it looks like your student is taking things seriously." General Hawk commented in amusement as he and Snake-Eyes watched the newest recruit to Joes practice in the recreation room for the Alpha team. The young gave a series of very fast stabs and then gestured to pushing something or someone away before leaped back in a series of horizontal spirals. "Well, I'm impressed with him so far."

_As am I, General_ Snake-Eyes signed. While his Ninjutsu is still being developed, his combat potential is certainly there. _His other martial arts are certainly being used effectively, as we saw in the evaluation today._

"So, you think he has potential to succeed here?" Hawk asked curiously, impressed by the resolute nod from the master fighter across his table. Clearly Snake-Eyes saw a great deal of potential in the young man as a student and wanted him to achieve all that he could, first time that the masked man had ever expressed such things. "So, what could you find out about him?"

And at that question, Snake-Eyes sighed and leaned back in his chair, his mind clearly trying to process what had been said and what he had learned about the young man. That had been his reason for getting Echo to play chess, because it was a long game and it allowed him to ask the questions that needed to be asked. The young man had been very forthcoming and honest towards all of his questions, even if they made him uncomfortable due to having to remember things that he thought that he had put to rest.

_He had it rough, General. In high-school as much as of a up hill battle for him as it was in the dojo, people always holding his lack parents above his head_ Snake-Eyes explained, thinking of where would be a good place to start. _That kid that he told us about? The one he saved? That was his only honest friend in school and his only other friends was two kids name Wesley and Abigail, those he made in the dojo. Everyone else alienated him._

"All because he was an orphan?" General Hawk was a doubtful as he sounded dubious. "I find that a little hard to believe."

_No, because he preserved through their bullshit and he didn't rise to their taunts. I had one of the techs call the dojo and ask about how Echo acted in the class. He was a model student_ Snake-Eyes explained.

"Well, I guessed as much from the way he fights." Hawk was confused by the ninja's shaking head.

_No, it had nothing to do with his fighting abilities. It had to do with how he treated his classmates_ Snake-Eyes revealed, surprising the general a little. _Its the reason he only has his first dan in his other martial arts. Echo would deliberately hinder his own training by helping the worst in the class so that the class as whole would be on the same level, even if he didn't get along with the other student._

"So people looked down on him because he helped others in the class. They must have taken that a gesture of arrogance." Hawk mused, Snake-Eyes nodding slowly.

_He also didn't retaliate against any abuse directed at him_ Snake-Eyes revealed. _The scar on his back? That was because he refused to fight agaisnt a jock in high school and only responded when he got hurt and it seemed other people were in danger. The only time he responds to what someone says to him is when they are talking about his friends or about his teachers._

"Well, that explains why he trashed Talbot the way he did. He didn't respond to what Talbot was saying until he start going on about you and his other masters."

_Exactly. Echo values the respect given to his teachers and to attack that is pretty much an attack on his beliefs_ Snake-Eyes explained.

"So, he's an emotional withdrawn young man who believes in giving his best and making sure those in his class, and subsequently his team, are all at the same level." Hawk watched as Snake-Eyes shrugged and nodded.

_If we were to summarize him, then yes_ Snake-Eyes agreed, the fully covered man tilting in confusion when he saw Hawk chuckling slightly.

"Sorry, Snake-Eyes." He apologized, tilting his head towards the screen with Echo on it. "Its just easy to see some similarities between the student and the teacher."

At that comment, Snake-Eyes paused and watched his student. The young man kicked and then cut in the opposite direction. He then pulled the chain free and hooked the knife to the clip, untwisting himself by pivoting in a spin kick. The blade was resting on the floor and Echo tentatively kicked it out, sweeping it around before it fully extended on the chain. As it came around his back, the young man caught the knife by the handle and stopped moving.

The young man turned to address someone who had just entered the room. But Snake-Eyes was considering the words of Heavy-Duty and now General Hawk.

* * *

Echo stepped back with the chain coming around his back and caught the handle of the knife easy enough, surprised as he never done it before. He rationalized that since the weapon was similar to the chain whip, he could just use a similar technique he had been shown in Wushu. He paused and relaxed as thought back to the forms that he had been reading in the manual that Dogen had given him.

"Taking a break, Echo?" A voice asked him and Echo looked up to see the first man that Snake-Eyes had introduced him to, Breaker.

"Yeah, just a bit. Trying to figure out the first form for this new weapon." Echo said as he walked over to his stuff. "What are you up to, Mr. Shaz?"

"Ah, call me, Breaker, kid." The technical expert said as he turned back to the object that he was working with. "And this is an improvement to our communication systems when were in the field; to allow communications to be heard but not to block all other noise out."

Echo picked up his bag and walked over to the table that Breaker was working at; the device he had looked like a dogs collar with some extra cables on it and a pair of headphones coming out of it. Echo took a seat, studying the object as he undid his knife and chain. He had to chuckled lightly, sliding the knife away in its sheath as he watched the other man work.

"That looks way too complicated for me to understand." Echo admitted, staring closely at it. "I see the headphones but were is the mic that use to communicate with?"

"I will be here, on the collar. See this?" Breaker lifted up the collar and showed Echo two small disk that had two wires running from each one. "These are throat mics."

"Throat mics?"

"Yes, they sit on either side of the Adam's apple and as you speak, the mic is triggered and your voice will be heard even if you speak very softly."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Echo said as he looked a the equipment, Breaker looking at his wrist computer when it began to chime. "Maybe I should have paid more attention in physics or some other science class."

"Come on, kid. Let me show you the more digital side of our operations, okay?" Breaker said teasingly as he stood up, Echo walking up from the lowered section of the Alpha Rec Room and pulled on his sweatshirt before he pulled his backpack on.

Echo followed Breaker with amused curiosity and played with the length of chain in his hands, swinging it in long loops as he walked behind the technology specialist. He noted how the sheath and the handle of his knife fitted nicely against the small of his back, the handle just over his right hip where his ribcage stop. Breaker was so engrossed with his wrist mounted computer that he was almost moving on autopilot and this meant that Echo had to focus on him moving rather than where he was actually going. He slowed down as he entered a massive room filled with dozens of computer screens and a massive screen on one of the walls, the entire room centered around a odd looking machine that had a floating image of the globe on it.

"Welcome to the Command Center, Echo." Breaker said, the young fighter nodding mutely as he took everything in with awe. "Just give me a moment and I will be right with you."

The technology expert then turned to a man standing beside him and Echo made his way down the ramp to the center of the room. As he walked around the communications section, the young fighter was a little overwhelmed by the quantity of high quality equipment and stared at the holographic globe suspended in the air. He tentatively reached out and touched the globe, the image swivel suddenly and zooming in at the location that Echo had touched, his hand snapping away from the unit faster than the crack of a bullwhip. The shape of the country was soon just floating in front of him and a list of relevant information about the country being scrolled through as he read, Echo never knowing anything about Thailand to begin with.

"Fucking hell..." Echo muttered quietly as he saw the three dimensional detail that was being shown to him and that it even showed him the weather cycles that were current and going to happen. Everything needed for a mission or for a vacation was being filled in by the machine. "What Ian would give to have some of this technology..."

"Hey Echo." The young man turned to see Breaker having finished with his errands and was grinning broadly at the newest recruit of the Joes. "So, what do you think?"

"I think I should have paid more attention in my computer classes." Echo said as he glanced around again. "I mean, this place is awesome. I know a few computer geeks I was close with back home that would do pretty much anything to get near this stuff."

"Well, we research and develop most of our own equipment here and given the standard of technology, its not the sort of thing that we want to be advertising that we have." Breaker explained, Echo nodding in understanding. "Its kind of why we have such a crack down on what our technicians say or reveal to their families. We just don't know who could be listening to them and its better to err on the side of safety."

"Eh, don't worry too much. Ain't that many people from back home that I'm in contact with, so your secrets are good with me." Echo assured Breaker, missing the look on the tech specialist as he looked around the room again. "Where do you find these people anyway? I'm not really familiar with the whole recruiting process here."

"Well, you see, we get half the officers here from the army and other military operations and we normally pick the best and the brightest of the communication and intelligence officers that we can find at any given time." Breaker explained, the two walked around the three dimensional projection unit and walkign closer to the massive screen that Echo had glimpesed at when he first entered. "And the other half we get from from intelligence agencies like the FBI, the Joint Task Force,..."

"Whoa, whoa; so some of these guys are like spies or something?" Echo asked in confusion, Breaker chuckling slightly.

"Not exactly. Those intelligence agencies are made up of much more than spies and field operatives; they have dozens of agents that are specifically trained to deal with massive amounts of information we gather and process it into useful data for us." Breaker explained, nodding to Echo. "How do you think we got all the information on you?"

"I just figured you had a hacker or some agent made inquisitions before you lot drafted me." Echo admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

Breaker had a slight laugh at the young man, patting his arm. "It's alright, you'll learn as you get used to being here." The older man assured, looking up to see a technician waving him over. "Excuse me a moment, please."

"Sure thing, Breaker." Echo said as he watched his new friend hurry off to the person calling for his attention.

As he studied the massive screen and wondered how cool it would be to play video games on it, Echo turned his head when he heard a pile of papers hit the floor with someone groaning with the words "oh shit..."

* * *

Elisa had been surprised to see her mentor followed by the apprentice of Snake-Eyes, that Tobias that she had been assigned to observe in the mess hall. She was didn't think that he was one for technology and to see him taking an interest in the center display unit was amusing, especially when he looked start to see the holographic projects react to his touch she nearly giggled at his face.

She was actually glad that she got to see him in person now and she noted that he was just as attractive as his photograph made him out to be. Sure, the chain wrapped around his right arm was a little odd and to see him carrying a long knife where one normally carried a firearm was strange too, but he still looked relatively normal compared to the soldiers in the room. He looked like he had been untouched by the horrors of war and while he had hurt people, he was yet to take a life.

But then again he wasn't at the same time. There was something in the way that made him move and the way he seemed to glide around people that gave him an almost superhuman essence to him, which was only enhanced by his martial art talents. Within that aura of supernatural chaos, it gave that illusion that he could be one of the most surprising and unexpected recruits that G.I. Joe would ever enlist in their services.

Elisa shrugged as she contemplated that thought. It wasn't as though this outfit recruits normal people to begin with. Since only the best were allowed to enter in this unit, she knew that Echo had to make that cut and from his scores so far, he was living up to being Snake-Eyes's apprentice. But still it nagged at her; what surprises did this Echo have up his sleeve?

She glanced at the young man as he walked past her with Breaker, the two looking happy as they talked with each other. As she got back to her work, Elisa noticed Breaker pass her desk to take care of an issue and she started to stand to ask him a question. Only problem was that as she stood, she turned into a cluster of files that someone had kindly left on the edge of her workspace and the entire pile went crashing to the floor.

"Oh shit..." Elisa muttered as she knelt and began sweeping up her papers, trying to avoid looking up at anyone.

She had gotten about half of her papers, when she noticed that someone was helping her and had gotten the rest of the documents gathered up for her. Holding the files that she had to her chest she watched as the man looked up to her and she fought the urge to fidget when she saw that it was the very man she had been observing that was now helping her.

He glanced from side to side, hesitantly holding the files out to her. "Sorry, just thought you could use the help."

* * *

Echo didn't think that helping the young lady would have been a bad idea but the puzzled look on her face was making him guess twice. Well, he didn't really think that it was puzzlement but more along the lines of surprise and that surprised him even more. He didn't think that he looked like the rude type but maybe she had some bad experiences or-

"Ah, sorry. Thank you so much." The woman said as she came out of her little paralysis and accepted the folders in Echo's hand, the two standing quickly to get out of the officer's way. "I can be so clumsy when I get tunnel vision."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." The young fighter said in amusement, the woman rolling her eyes a bit with a giggle. "Sometimes you can just forget the world around you."

"Just as long as you get that one things done, then you can pick up the mess after-wards." She concluded, making Echo chuckle and she set her files down, offering her had to newest Joe recruit. "My names Elisa Edwards, but the codename is Cyber." She introduced, nodding to Echo. "You're Snake-Eyes's apprentice, aren't you?"

Echo blinked owlishly, surprised that she even knew who he was. "Yeah, I'm Tobias. How did you know who I was?"

"Well, I've got two jobs here. One is provide in field information for the squads that are out on mission, sometimes even guide them through a tough situation." She explained, Echo able to understand the gist of what she was saying. She was a voice in the ear when things got tough. "The other thing I do is help maintain security protocols and personnel data. So the moment you came into the Pitt, I was handed your file and I put it all into our database."

As she spoke, Echo used that time to take her whole appearance in. Her short brown hair had to be just at her shoulder or maybe just longer, given the ponytail that she had on the back of her head. Her face was odd because it's most striking aspect was her bright smile that she tried but failed to hide. She had light blue eyes that were really highlighted by the freckles that she had along her cheeks and nose and she reminded him of someone that had been described as "girl next door".

For some reason, this Elisa really seemed like that but at the same time she was mesmerizing to look at. Her fatigues didn't really do her figure justice but it did show him that she had a slender frame and the way she held her arm over her modest bust showed him that she was shy fro some reason.

"Wow, that's impressive." Echo said as he looked at her workspace and saw the running code frames and the small video cameras running. "So you're one of those scary smart people, huh?"

"Uh, well, I guess in a way I am." Elisa admitted as she sat down at her desk and typed a quick command into the machine before turning back to Echo. "I've been wanting to ask you something, if that's alright."

"Yeah, that's fine." Echo said as he leaned against her desk slightly.

"The word going around here is that Snake-Eyes directly recruited you from a martial art school." She asked tentatively and Echo was surprised that he nodded, encouraging her to continue on. "How did he find out about you?"

"Ah, well, my master at the time had been a teacher to Snake-Eyes when he was younger and he felt that I would learn better from someone younger than him." Echo said, happy to discuss how the Joes found out about him and happy to leave the discussion of his place in the facility out of it. "I guess Snake-Eyes saw something he could improve or someone who would benefit from his guidance, so he agreed to it."

"I saw you fight earlier today, it was very impressive." Elisa admitted, Echo ducking his head as he blushed and shrugged as though it was nothing. "No, I'm serious. I've never seen a fight like the one between you and Snake-Eyes."

Again, all Echo could do was shrug. "I just reacted. I knew what to expect from him more so than the soldiers." When she looked at him in confusion, Echo continued on. "The soldiers here are military fighters, trained for combat that extends beyond hand-to-hand fights but as a result, they only take their unarmed combat so far sometimes. With Snake-Eyes, I know he is a master of a martial art that has been around for over a century and I knew I had to pull out every single stop if I wanted to stay standing at all."

"Hmm, that does make sense. I don't really look at the personnel files or memorize them so I only know Snake-Eyes as a close-quarters specialist and infiltration expert." Elisa said in a apologetic tone and Echo smiled, lifting his hands slightly to show her not to worry.

"Nothing to worry about really. Just how I know him differs from how you know him, that's all." Echo said, the young woman relaxing and a comfortable silence settled over them as Echo glanced around and Elisa typed in some command to her station. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how were you recruited?"

"Me? Well, I was an early admission to university and I actually graduated from Cal-Tech when I was about nineteen because my professor allowed me to double load my course." She explained, the young fighter slightly boggled at how casually she mentioned her education. "As I was getting ready for my graduation and I was preparing job applications, my programming teacher got me in touch with the Department of Defense and next thing I knew, I was enlisted in basic training."

"Damn, that's pretty impressive." Echo said, his hands resting inside his hoodie pockets. "See, you are one of those scary smart people."

"Mm, only with computers and stuff that relies on math." Elisa said dejectedly, glancing at the young fighter as she bit the corner of her lip tentatively. "I'm pretty bad with words because I have dyslexia, so the numbers they kind of help...calm the craziness of words down for me."

"Really? Dyslexia?" Echo was surprised and he missed the conflicted look on her face change to surprise at his next comment because he looked up at the map with a smile. "But you've found a way to beat, yeah? In a way, instead of letting it hinder you even further, you used it to excel in other areas."

Echo knew what it was like to be given a disorder because you learned differently. So many of his teachers tried to convince him that he had ADD or ADHD because he liked to fidget in class when it really was due to the fact that he was more of a kinetic learner rather then a auditory learner or a visual learner.

Yes, he could watch someone perform an action and then replicate it well enough but that was because he was physically doing the action, not writing an essay on it or trying to draw the figure's movements. He always found that moving helped his thought process move along and even did so subconsciously, prompting to consciously keep himself still when he wasn't doing anything.

"I guess your right." Echo looked at Elisa as she spoke and she was looking into space until she glanced at the young man beside her, smiling. "I never thought if it that way. Thanks, Tobias."

"Call me Echo. I respond faster to that name." He said with a small smile and offered his hand to her, which she gladly took. "And anytime, I'm always happy to help."

"Ah, I'll keep that in mind then." She said with a chuckle.

"Cool. Just give me a shout I guess and I'll come running" Echo suddenly remembered that he had a problem that Elisa could probably help him with, turning to her sharply as she giggled. "Ah! Maybe you could help me with something then."

"Of course, what is it?" Elisa asked in concern as the tone in his voice, Echo sighing deeply.

"Can you please show me how to shut that damn screen off in my room so I can sleep?" Echo miserably pleaded.

The giggles of Elisa and Echo's chuckles could be heard throughout the command center.


End file.
